1 . Human beings need interpersonal connection. But, in fact, learning how to let go of that pressure to be accompanied has unique upsides. Time alone allows you to reconnect with your own intentions.     1    

Start small. Figure out what you’d be most comfortable doing, whether it’s sitting at a local restaurant for dinner, or hitting up the bar, and do that.     2    

Bring a book or a journal.     3     When feeling you’re so alone and stressed in a cafe, you have an activity to engage in. Plus, the act of reading or journaling can direct your attention and help you tackle and calm such feelings.

Set your phone aside. Looking through social media or texting instantly takes your mind out of the present moment. Even if you’re not directly interacting with people while on your phone, you’re probably interacting with their thoughts or inputs.     4     This way you can let your body down-regulate and reset.

Do an activity you love. You can sign. up for an art class or workout program or volunteer group without anyone else you know.     5     And part of the full-circle joy of doing things completely for yourself is that it also brings you opportunities to meet new people, and form new, beautiful connections.

2 . Waking up at the crack of dawn and going for a run might feel awful when you start trying to make it a habit. Weaving a significant new activity such as this into your regular routine obviously takes determination and time.     1    

One popular idea suggests that it takes 21 days to solidify a habit. People tend to feel extra motivated to start a new habit or kick an old one.     2     Yet every January 21 very few people can boast that they have kept their resolutions.

Everyone has a unique habit-building timeline.     3     Experts suggest various individualized ways to practice frequently, which eventually turn a task into an unconscious habit.

    4     Teaching yourself a completely new skill or process obviously takes longer than remembering to drink more water in the morning. A 2015 study found that new gym-goers had to exercise at least four times a week for six weeks in order to develop an exercise habit. The results showed that creating a handwashing habit took a few weeks.     5     Anyway, handwashing is less complex and offers more opportunities to practice.

The researchers also suggested that habit formation depends on the effort that a person puts into practicing an activity and on the presence of environmental cues that would remind them to carry out the behavior.

3 . Happiness is a state of mind. When you learn to observe your thoughts and emotions (情感), you can nurture a joyful life and think more positively. After all, everyone has the potential to feel happy.     1    

Keep a thought diary

Write down thoughts as they come up throughout the day. When you’ve finished, go back and read your thought diary out loud. Can you identify negative(消极的) self-talk that might hold you back from feeling joyful? When these situations arise in the future, step back for a moment. Think about why you think this way and what happened the last time you were in this situation.     2    

Control the monkey mind with meditation (冥想)

Is your mind full of questions like “What do I really want to do with my life?” “Am I happy?” “Did I remember to lock the door?”     3     If you want to develop a happy, peaceful mind, you must make friends with them. Train your monkeys and give them a job to do, like watching your breath, repeating a phrase, or simply observing the present moment. These meditation practices train your mind and help calm the monkeys.

Respond vs react

    4     Even so-called negative emotions, like anger, sadness, or fear, have their function. After all, a healthy fear of heights keeps you from falling off a cliff (悬崖)! The trick is to not allow your emotions to overcome you.     5     When you react, the unconscious mind takes over. You may take action without thinking, and do something you regret. Response means taking a step back and observing your emotions.

4 . The Ancient Tea Horse Road (in China) was a trade road mainly through Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet.     1     From the 6th century to the 20th century, people in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces traveled by foot and on horseback to exchange tea for horses with people in Tibet. Walking on the road, you can still see the deep marks in stones left by the stepping of horses’ hooves (马蹄) over the centuries.

The Ancient Tea Horse Road was impressive. However, for travelers, transportation was very difficult in the southwest because there were lots of high mountains, climbable only by narrow roads, and rapid rivers to cross. Wheeled or waterway transportation was nearly impossible.     2    

The Tea Horse Road originated from the traditional “tea-for-horse” trade between Han and Tibetan people. The trade began with Tibetan interest in tea in the Tang Dynasty.     3     Some places in Sichuan, such as Mingshan, had a specialized government department to manage the tea-horse trade.

    4     The Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Road started from Ya’an in Sichuan to Lhasa, traveled through Luding, Kangding, Batang, and Chamdo in Tibet, and continued to Nepal, Burma, and India.The Yunnan-Tibet Tea Horse Road began from a major tea-producing area in Yunnan and led to Lhasa in Tibet, crossing Pu’er in Xishuangbanna, Dali, Lijiang, and Shangri-La, and continuing to Nepal, Burma, and India.

With the rapid development of modern roads, the ancient pathways have been taken the place of by the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and other Tibetan roads.     5     It makes people return to nature, enjoy a trip for harmony between humans and the environment and experience a trip of adventure and discovery.

5 . If you have a big test coming up or want to do well in class, studying is one of the best things you can do. Here are some tips on forming the best study habits so you can do your best in class.

Study in 1-hour blocks.     1     Set aside an hour for each of your subjects so you have time to review them completely. During each block, only focus on 1 subject at a time so you don’t get information mixed up between classes.

Plan regular breaks. Since studying takes up a lot of energy and brain power, it’s a good idea to schedule 5-10 minutes of relaxation every hour.     2     Listen to music, take a walk, or go get a snack to give yourself some space from your schoolwork.

    3     Working with your classmates can help keep you motivated (有动力). Ask other students that you’re in class with if they want to review with you. Try quizzing (测验) each other on concepts (概念).     4     Try teaching other people in your study group the concepts you’re learning. That way, you’ll be able to learn easier and more effectively.

Rewrite your notes in your own words. Organizing your notes helps you remember information a lot easier.     5     Rewrite them on a separate page so all of the similar information is organized and easy to read.

6 . Have you ever considered what it would be like to be unable to smile? I hadn't, up until a few months ago, when I found that I actually couldn’t.

I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy-A relatively unknown condition that paralyses one half of the face. This was quite a shock and depressed me enormously.     1    , the story is not about how tough life is, but how awesome it is when God challenges you in different ways.

Anyway, smiling is a part of everyday life for me. It is my way of greeting people, of laughing, silent communication and consolidation.     2    . Is it the lifting of the sides of a person’s mouth, the twinkling of the eye, or is it something beyond...or should I say behind the physical smile?

    3    , I came up with the conclusion that a genuine smile is not merely characterized by the upturning of the corners of the mouth, but by the actions, words, and thoughts of the smiler. This equipped me with hope and confidence. The reason was that I was aware smiling is not just an outward expression, but an inward lifestyle.

With this in mind, I set to learning how to smile through my actions. There are a few things I had to change, but it is thanks to this challenge God has given me that I have grown closer to him.     4    .

I would really encourage you to smile more often and not just with your face!     5    . For instance, Smile Cards with a chocolate bar/bookmark/bible verse/voucher! Slip it into someone’s hand/school bag and let them experience the true smile.

7 . Find your new favorite hobby

Challenging and fun hobbies have the power to make us happier and healthier. They can lead to better physical health, lower stress, greater life satisfaction, a larger social network and improve work performance.     1     But where do you start? Here are some tips on how to discover the hobbies you don’t yet know you’ll love.

Ask yourself how you want to feel

Hobbies present an escape — they can help you get out of your head and calm down. Ask yourself how you want an activity to make you feel. Mentally engaged? Distracted? Relaxed? Socially connected?     2     Recognize that you have different needs at different moments, and that’s OK.

Start small

    3     Try to figure out gradually if it’s right for you. You can always do more later. If you’re wondering if paintballing might be a good fit, join an outing or two with a local Meet-up group. Or sign up for a one-time pottery class rather than a set of eight.

    4    

When people feel guilty about spending time on leisure, they experience increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Give yourself permission to do something that you like and keep in mind that if a hobby makes you healthier and happier, everyone around you will benefit. Think of discovering new hobbies as a way to add new dimensions to your life, and enjoy the process.

Take a trip back in time

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? The answer could point you toward an appealing hobby. Revisit some activities you loved when you were young, like drawing, putting together model kits, collecting things or building clay figures, which is really helpful to start your new hobbies.     5    

Keep a list

Keep a list on your fridge or other things of all the things that strike you as interesting. Write down potential interests as they come to you, and you’ll have no shortage of options to explore when you’re ready.

8 . In an increasingly busy world, finding moments of peace is more important than ever. One way to make you have a peaceful feeling at home is to have an indoor water fountain.     1     And it also offers a lot of calming benefits that are able to positively influence your well-being.

    2     It can contribute to feelings of calmness and relaxation, making you forget about the demands of the outside world. Indoor water fountains offer a convenient and accessible way to bring this relaxing experience into your home.

Indoor water fountains can also improve the quality of the air in your home. As water flows, small drops of water go away into the surrounding air. They can help humidify (使湿润) the environment.     3     At that time, indoor heating systems can lead to dry, uncomfortable air. Improved air quality can contribute to a sense of well-being and comfort.

Indoor water fountains can help improve concentration by creating a calming environment. Whether you are working from home or dealing with a challenging project, it helps you keep focused and improve your performance. Students also need to be highly focused when studying.    4    

For those who struggle with sleep issues, an indoor water fountain can be a valuable aid. Listening to the sound of an indoor water fountain can bring them into a deeper and more restful sleep.     5     Besides, having a fountain in their bedroom helps to drown out (淹没) background noise, creating a more peaceful sleep environment.

9 . In the 1920s, Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik observed a strange thing. While dining out, she was impressed by the complex orders the waiters were able to remember at one time.     1     This observation gave rise to the study of what would become known as the Zeigarnik Effect.

The Zeigarnik Effect refers to our tendency to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. At first glance the Zeigarnik Effect can seem like a handy adaptation: It’s good to remember the things we need to do, and it’s a positive thing to want to finish the things we start.    2    

First, each incomplete task your brain reminds you about takes up a bit of your attention, making it harder to concentrate on whatever you’re currently working on. Second, even if we manage to physically disconnect from work, the Zeigarnik Effect ensures that our unfinished tasks follow us home. They bring trouble to our vacations, our weekends, and even our sleep.    3    

So what can you do about it?

Write your tasks down. Your brain is a terrible filing system. Instead of keeping tasks in your head, make a habit of writing them down as soon as they come to you.

    4     Make a plan for tomorrow before you end the work day so your unfinished tasks don’t remain in your mind after-hours.

Don’t forget to look back at how far you’ve come.    5     Therefore, review your completed tasks at the end of every week to celebrate what you’ve already.