Choose to be optimistic; it feels better.

You can see more of Molly Hahn's beautiful "Buddha Doodles" at her website, and she also has a series of books (including a Kindle book) at Amazon.

The quote is: Choose to be optimistic; it feels better. Dalai Lama XIV

You will see this quote all over the Internet; I don't have a specific source for it... but it sounds like the Dalai Lama! You can find out more about Tenzin Gyatso (the 14th Dalai Lama) at Wikipedia, and you can find more quotes from the Dalai Lama at Wikiquote.

Advice from a Tree.

This graphic is from a poem by Ilan Shamir: Advice from a Tree. And you can read the whole poem for more advice!

Advice From a Tree:

Stand Tall and Proud

Go Out on a Limb

Remember Your Roots

Drink Plenty of Water

Be Content With Your Natural Beauty

Enjoy the View

Shake it off

Movement is good for the body... and good for the mind too: if you have some worry, just shake it off!

(by Molly Hahn at Buddha Doodles)

Control-Alt-Delete

Some good advice from the world of computing:

Just three keys that are found on your computer to enjoy life:
CTRL control yourself
ALT look for alternative solutions
DEL delete situations that give you tension and negative energy

Born to Stand Out

I really liked this graphic with the words of Dr. Seuss and the characters of his famous Whoville.

Why fit in when when you were born to stand out?

The Biology of Positivity

This short little video (with fun emojis!) goes along with this very useful article: Your Brain May Be Hard-wired to Focus on the Negative, But (With Practice) You Can Reprogram It by Leah Shafer and Iman Rastegari.

This notion of "positivity" overlaps with growth mindset in powerful ways. Instead of focusing on the negative (making mistakes, the fear of making mistakes, etc.), you really can train your brain to look at mistakes as useful information that you can use for your own learning. Some other good tips here include not comparing yourself to others and being patient with your own progress!

The Biology of Positivity

Here's a transcript of the video:

Your brain is hard-wired to focus on the negative. Fortunately, we can re-wire our neural connections. Learning new things makes your brain stronger, and repeating those new things creates new neurons The same is true for positive habits of mind; they're learnable and self-strengthening. Mindfulness is a bridge to positive habits:

• Take a break and look at something different. Savor the calm. 
• Look for good things in small moments.
• Look for and talk about the good traits of others.
• Exercise.
• Be persistent, knowing that change takes time. 

(image from the You Can Reprogram It article)

The Whole Box of Crayons

Life is about using the whole box of crayons. 

— Robert Fulghum (author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten)

Constant Change

Let the New Year be a year of change... of good change!

Everything on this planet is in a state of constant change. You're not an exception. EMBRACE CHANGE. — Karen Salmansohn

(graphic from notsalmon.com)

Happiness Jar

Here is a writing challenge that you might enjoy — it would be a nice way to write a tiny something every day, and also to then enjoy what you collect later on! I first learned about this from someone at Google+, and you can find out more at WikiHow: Happiness Jars.

Happiness Jar: Write down something that made you happy every day for a year, then open the jar and read all about the amazing things that happened.

Quotes from Children's Literature

Via an article in Edutopia, I found this lovely infographic of quotes from children's literature which was created by the AAA State of Play playground equipment company.

This is my favorite:

I am not afraid of storms,

for I am learning to sail my ship.

from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This quote is widely attributed to Milne, but it is not; it comes from a Disney film instead! You can find out more here: A.A. Milne Would Never Write That!

Richard Twice: A Musical Life Interrupted

This is a lovely short animated film about life and the search for happiness; here's the blurb from the Aeon site:

After losing part of his leg in a motorcycle accident in the early 1960, Richard Atkins took to playing guitar and writing songs, quickly landing a coveted deal for his debut album Richard Twice (1968) with Mercury Records. But what appeared to be a fast track to folk-rock stardom came to a sudden halt when a make-or-break performance brought his dreams crashing down. Traumatised, he stopped listening to the radio and playing on stage for 40 years, deciding instead to dedicate his life to woodworking. Using expressive, psychedelic animations and featuring Atkins’s original music, the US director Matthew Salton’s film is a bittersweet reminder that many dreams go unfulfilled, and while past failures are always with us, they needn’t define us.

Happiness: Eudaimonia

Insight into happiness as imagined by the ancient Greeks, via the WordStuckwebsite.

People to Surround Yourself With

I thought this graphic by Sylvia Duckworth was a wonderful way to think about the people around you, and to value them for all the different ways they add to your life... and also to think about what you can bring to the people you care about too!

And as for the rest: don't worry about them, as the graphic also explains. :-)

Life From Above, and Beyond, with words from Alan Watts

Alan Watts is one of the great teachers of the 20th century; you can read more about him at Wikipedia, and you can find many more Alan Watts videos (many based on his radio talks) at YouTube: Alan Watts.

This video has music by Hans Zimmer (Interstellar), with words from Alan Watts; it was created by Trey Ratcliff.  You can read the text here: Symbols and Meaning.

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from a Book

This great graphic comes from @IntrovertDoodle: it uses the metaphor of reading books to illustrate happiness in real life!

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from a Book
Things usually turn out okay in the end. If not... there's probably a sequel.
It's bood to be different. Be weird. Be complex. Be anything but trite.
All the best characters are flawed. You are NOT a failure.
When things go wrong, hang in there. It's just a plot twist.

I am not afraid of storms.

The quote is from the author Louisa May Alcott.

I am not afraid of storms

for I am learning to sail my ship.

Blessed are the weird

Blessed are the weird people — the poets and mistfits, the artists, the writers, and music-makers, the dreamers and the outsiders — for they force us to see the world differently.

The words come from Jacob Nordby, and you can read the full version of his Beatitudes for the Weird at his website, and you can learn more about the tradition of the beatitudes at Wikipedia.

Be Brave for Education

From a discussion with someone at Google+ today, I learned a new word: didaskaleinophobia, which is the fear of school. Growth mindset is a good way to confront the fears that can stand in your way, including those little fears —what if I make a mistake? what if I look foolish? what if I just don't get it? — that do not merit the label "phobia" ... and if you need a bravery boost, just watch this video: Be Brave for Education. For the lyrics, see the Sara Bareilles - Brave page at genius.com.

You can find out more about the Montessori teachers who made this video at their website: BeBrave4Education.com.

Do It Anyway

This beautiful graphic comes from Contessa.Rocks.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends, and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spent years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Given the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the end, it's between you and mirror. It was never between you and them anyway.

Louis Schwartzberg: Gratitude, with David Steindl-Rast

Gratitude and happiness are profoundly intertwined, as you can learn in this Louis Schwartzberg video from Everyone Matters, featuring the words of Brother David Steindl-Rast:

GRATITUDE

(Brother David Steindl-Rast)