The Only Way to Keep Your Resolutions

...our social emotions. These are the emotions — things like gratitude and compassion — that support the positive aspects of social life. For years I’ve been studying the effects of these emotions on decision-making and behavior, and I’ve found that unlike reason and willpower, they naturally incline us to be patient and persevere. When you are experiencing these emotions, self-control is no longer a battle, for they work not by squashing our desires for pleasure in the moment but by increasing how much we value the future. nyt
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In 2018, I’m resolved to do better at listening to people on every side. Empathy is always the best tool for fighting despair, and since trying to hear what’s behind all this anger and all this fear and all this defeatism is the surest route to empathy... The new year arrives in a flash of fireworks and a clink of glasses and a smiling kiss for a beloved. It’s a time for believing anything is possible, for setting out-of-reach goals and trying to reach them anyway, and for today, at least, I’m feeling a tiny little tug of optimism. The old, sad year is gone now, the darkest winter night is past, and the new year is open and whole and waiting. And this is the way the world changes: by trusting it can change. Margaret Renkl
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And then there are the anti-social emotions...