1 . Very few people can say that they have achieved all that they are capable of. But what is it that is preventing you from fulfilling your potential (潜能)?

    1     They know that they have something special to contribute and they are determined to make their mark. This does not mean that they are too proud. On the contrary, they are self critical and push themselves hard because they know that they can achieve more.

It is easy and natural to settle into a rut (墨守成规). Why try something new when you are already doing that you are good at?     2     They take risks. They move out of their comfort zones. They take on difficult challenges. They push themselves to acquire new skills and to face new examinations of their abilities.     3     Where are you right now — inside your comfort zone or taking risks?

    4     Thinking and planning are great but it is action that leads to success. It is only by doing things and doing the right things that you change the world.

Let’s face it — your friends and family are really nice people but they are not challenging you to achieve more. Spend more time with high flyers and positive thinkers who understand ambition and achievement. Share some of your thoughts, dreams and challenges with them.     5    

2 . Art Builds Understanding

Despite the long history of scholarship on experiences of art, researchers have yet to capture and understand the most meaningful aspects of such experiences, including the thoughts and insights we gain when we visit a museum, the sense of encounter after seeing a meaningful work of art, or the changed thinking after experiences with art. These powerful encounters can be inspiring, uplifting, and contribute to well-being and flourishing.

    1     It contributes to facilitating a better understanding of ourselves, the human condition, and moral and spiritual concepts. The question is how that happens — what are the attributes of meaningful experiences of art?

According to the mirror model of art developed by Pablo P. L. Tinio, aesthetic reception corresponds to artistic creation in a mirror-reversed fashion. Artists aim to express ideas and messages about the human condition or the world at large.     2     This results in the build-up of layers of materials — from initial studies and sketches to the final, refined piece. A viewer’s initial interaction with an artwork starts where the artist has left off. Their interaction first involves the processing surface features, such as color, texture, and the finishing touches applied by the artist during the final stages of the creative process.     3    

In addition, art making and art viewing are connected by creative thinking. Research in a lab at Yale University shows that an educational program that uses art appreciation activities builds creative thinking skills. It showed that the more time visitors spent engaging with art and the more they reflected on it, the greater the correspondence with the artists’ intentions and ideas.     4    

Correspondence in feeling and thinking suggests a transfer — between creator and viewer — of ideas, concepts, and emotions contained in the works of art. Art has the potential to communicate across space and time.     5     What it takes for this to happen is active engagement with art in contexts that facilitate this engagement, especially museums.

3 . How to Get Along with Your Roommate

Unless you plan to live at home while attending college, you’re going to be faced with sharing personal space, bathrooms, TVs, closets and much more. Getting along with your college roommate can be a difficult situation because sharing space with others is not always easy.     1    .

Get to know your roommate.

Before college starts, spend time together to learn about each other’s hometown, friends and family. Knowing a bit of your roommate’s background will help you understand them and hopefully get your living situation stared off on the right foot.     2    , but showing mutual respect will make for better living conditions.

Learn to communicate.

Be clear with your message but don’t forget to listen as well. You will achieve very little if you don’t communicate and actively listen.

    3    ! Approach your roommate in private when they have time to hold a meaningful conversation, and be clear about what is bothering you.

    4    .

While texting or e-mailing your roommate is not a good idea, it will allow you to write down your concerns and edit the message before sending it. For those who get stressed out over conflict, this may be a good solution. If you and your roommate cannot find a compromise to your problems, it may be time to get your counsellors involved. They are trained to deal with such situations and can usually help find reasonable solutions.

Don’t be nervous.     5    , and learn to let the small things go. Consider all of the positives that come with having a roommate. Who knows, in the meantime, you may have just found your best friend for life!

4 . Build your own first aid kit

Emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere, so being prepared for one is important. Having a proper first aid kit in your home is an easy but essential part of good emergency preparation.     1    . Instead of getting such one, you can save money and ensure the kit is personalized to suit you and your family’s particular needs by creating your own.

Pick a good container. One good option is a large, water resistant, rigid or flexible plastic container. This makes the materials inside visible for easy identification and safe.     2    . A handle is ideal out of consideration for that. Regardless of your container choice, clearly identify it, for example, by writing “ FIRST AID” with a permanent marker.

    3    . One should include all of your basic medicinal supplies, such as bandages (绷带), gloves and scissors, while the second one includes medicine. Make sure that the important basic medical tools and medicines are contained in it.     4    . However, when it comes to bandages, wipes and other lightweight items, the more the merrier. And remember that everything is kept in small sealed plastic bags.

    5    . When one of your family is crying about a cut on her finger, you don’t want your home kit buried at the back of a cupboard or lost because it’s not being returned to the same spot after each use. Establish a clearly-defined, consistent spot for it. Let small children know where the kit is located, but place it where they cannot reach it.

5 . Optimism (乐观) is probably not a surprise that optimistic thinkers tend to be happier than pessimistic thinkers.     1     Here is what may surprise you.

Optimists live longer.

Optimistic thinkers have lower rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, and even risk of cancer, as well as lower rates of mortality in general. These health factors may be influenced by optimists’ focus on taking care of themselves.     2     One large study published in 2022 determined that optimists have a life span 11% to 15% longer than average.     3    

Optimists are more successful.

Just as optimists tend to be more resilient (有复原力的) outside of the workplace, they are also resilient on the job. Even if their bosses don’t recognize that they’re doing a good job, optimists are able to bounce back and keep performing well. People who are more optimistic also seem to have better job security than less optimistic workers.     4     Plus, people who feel optimistic about their careers are more likely to both succeed at work and to feel satisfied with their jobs.

    5    

People with higher levels of subjective well-being — a mindset that can include optimism — have stronger immune systems and even experience faster wound healing than others with lower levels of well-being. People with positive experiences lowered their rates of depression, physical symptoms, and sleep complaints.

6 . When it comes to protecting your mental health, you can take steps to adjust your daily routine to be a bit kinder to yourself. Here’s some of the advice some experts offered.

    1    

Stephanie Roth-Goldberg, a licensed clinical social worker, says this could mean allowing time to relax with your coffee for a few minutes before leaving the house or getting some physical activity before work. See how long you need to accomplish something good for yourself.    2    !

Take breaks during the workday

    3     — it can do wonders for your concentration and overall mood. If you don’t have a lot of opportunities to take breaks, Goldberg recommends going for a short walk or even visiting a friend at their desk to help break up the day.

Designate a screen-free time during the day

Goldberg explains that designating a time during the day when you completely disconnect from screens is “a great mental health tool that people don’t make use of.”    4    It’s commonly recommended to disconnect before bed, though. “Spending time away from screens allows for creativity, connection and feelings that otherwise would not happen,” she says.

Set up a bedtime routine

Getting enough high-quality sleep is essential to our mental and physical health. Katie Leikam, a licensed clinical social worker, recommends setting up a nighttime routine to ensure you get the shut-eye you need.     5    and turn off your lights at the same time every night. “This will help you obtain better sleep, which is one of the best things you can do for your mental health,” says Leikam.

7 . “Morning routines are powerful and set our pattern for the rest of the day,” said Lee Chambers, a well-being consultant in Britain. “    1    .” Instead, starting the morning with intention creates a sense of calm that makes the rest of the day seem more manageable. So how do you create morning routines that will quiet your mind? Here are some expert-recommend practices.

Practice gratitude.

    2    . You can list a few things in your head, share them with a partner or child, or write them down in a journal. “Start your day with a grateful heart before you even get up from bed,” said Renato Perez, a Los Angeles psychotherapist.

    3    .

Those work emails, text messages, and Instagram notifications (通知) can wait a bit. If your phone get charged by your bed or use it as an alarm clock, you’re going to look at it right when you wake up. Before you know it, you’re sucked in and two minutes of scrolling (滚读) turns into 20.Try charging your phone across the room so it’s not within reach. Or charge it outside of the bedroom and use an alarm clock instead.

Take some deep breaths.

When you’re anxious, you might notice your breathing is quick and shallow, rather than slow and deep. “    4    ,” said Gina Deluca, a clinical psychologist at Wellspace in San Francisco. “While we don’t have voluntary control over some of these bodily sensations (感觉), we do have control over our breathing, and we can use our breath to help create a more relaxed state.”

Move your body.

It could be yoga, walking, running, dancing or cycling. “When you exercise in the morning,     5    , as well as better sleep at night, which can also help to reduce anxiety,” Delucca said.

8 . How to Be a Good Athlete

Being a good athlete is about much more than just being great at a sport. The following will do you a favor.

Work with a coach.     1    . Besides, they can stay focused on achieving them, and find ways to help your improve if you fall short. There are a variety of coaches that can work with conditioning, technique, and skill level.

Create an individual program. In order to improve your athleticism, you should focus on improving your particular weaknesses.     2    , but you’ll also want to make sure you set aside time to improve your skills. Mixing up your routine is also a good way to improve your overall performance and decrease the risk of injury.

Show up on time.     3    , whether by yourself or with a team, your coach or trainer has a time set aside to work with you. Maximize your time by making sure you are there when it is time to begin. That usually means that if your practice starts at a certain time, say 9:00 am, you should be dressed and ready to go then, not just arriving.

    4    . It can be easy to let your mind wander when you are doing drills and exercises. It is important, though, that you stay focused on what you are doing.

Cool down after exercising. Once you have finished a workout or practice session, take some time to give your body a physical cool-down period. Some low-intensity (低强度) movements and stretches are good to help restore your muscles.     5    .

9 . We all know how colors alter how we feel when looking at pictures, but shapes are just as powerful in affecting us psychologically. They not only provide the framework for the physical world,     1    . By understanding the science of shapes, you can effectively utilize (利用) them in your photography.

Because of its structure, the triangle is often used to represent perseverance and achievement. Its wide base indicates the struggle or the journey,     2    . That’s why when you search for images of “success”, it’s not surprising to see hundreds of photos of people on top of hills or mountains that are, of course, shaped like triangles.

    3    . Apart from the rule of thirds, many photographers (as well as artists) like to use what’s called the golden triangle rule in their composition. It involves arranging elements (原理) in a triangle to create a harmonious and symmetrical (对称的) image.

Squares and, similarly, rectangles are the most common shapes you see in man-made objects.     4    . People like them because they’re simple, balanced, solid, and secure.

The square’s positive attributes aren’t just limited to physical entities; it also works well in adding emotional and aesthetic (审美的) layers to images.     5    . When put together, it also creates a pattern that feels orderly and industrial.

10 . Wonder how you can boost your mood and stay happy? Here is a list of top 5 habits that can help you tune into a happy mood and attitude.

Be grateful for what you have.     1    . You must have seen pictures of people in poverty-ridden areas smiling next to one another. How do these people manage to keep their genuine smiles stretched? They learn to be happy with what they have and find happiness in little things. You can reproduce this, too, and lead a better life.

    2    . Are you a passionate painter or someone who enjoys sewing? Or do you sing and play the guitar? Whatever hobbies you have, continue following them. Most people abandon their hobbies as they get older and busier. This is also one reason why happiness becomes scarce for them.

Get physically active. Exercise is a great way to support your physical and mental health. Working out wouldn’t only help you lose and maintain weight which will boost your confidence, but it will also make your brain feel better.     3    .

Hang out with good people. Bad company can be worn out.     4    . Instead, surround yourself with loved ones who genuinely care about you. Good people who support you in your bad times and good times should be your circle.

Remember, you don’t have to be friends with everyone.     5    . Avoid following influencers and celebrities who have nothing special to offer to your feed. The kind of lifestyle they show on these apps can induce feelings of complexities.