2 . Kids have a lot on their minds. Dealing with school, family, activities, and all of the other big parts of life is hard enough. The recent rise in Omicron cases in the US is causing more stress on them. It can be difficult to think of how to cheer themselves up.     1    .

Connect with people you love. Reaching out to friends and family can make a huge difference.     2    . Just talking or spending time with them can improve your mood (情绪)and help you feel connected.

Talk to a trusted adult. If you’re feeling down. Dr. Murthy suggests confiding (倾诉)in a trusted adult.     3    . “A lot of schools have counselors or school nurses you can talk with as well.” he adds.

    4    . Eat well and get good sleep. Fresh air and exercise help, too. “I find that when I’m physically active, it actually lifts my mood,” Dr. Murthy says. It also has the benefit of freeing yourself from some challenges you have.

Help others.     5    . When you help other people, not only do you strengthen (巩固)your connections, you also remind yourself that you have a lot of beauty, value and strength to add to the world.

3 . Boredom is a common human experience. It’s almost impossible to fully avoid it, especially when you’re living a fast-paced life. You may be bored from time to time and feel like you need something new or exciting in your life. It’s perfectly natural to feel this way from time to time, but feeling bored often can also mean that your present life isn’t satisfying you as much as it can.

When you feel bored, think about what activities bring you joy and happiness. Perhaps you find that hobbies are what help improve your spirits. After all, having interests and pursuing (追求) them can often have a great effect on the quality of your life and how satisfied you feel. If this sounds like something that would be good for your life, we have some great ideas for hobbies to pursue when you’re bored!

One of the easiest and most effective (有效的) ways to relieve (解除) boredom is to take exercise. Exercise is not only good for your body but also your mind. When your body is moving, it releases (释放) certain chemicals that make you feel good. Learning a new language is another way to challenge yourself and become more creative. It can also open up a whole new culture and way of thinking for you! Many people find that learning a new language gives them a sense of achievement that they don’t get from other hobbies.

Furthermore, reading is a hobby that can be enjoyed by almost anyone. It’s inexpensive, easy to fit into your plan and can be done just about anywhere. It doesn’t require special equipment or supplies, and you can do it alone or with others. The last way to avoid feeling bored inside is to spend time outdoors. Find a place to go where you can get away from the noise and other troubles. You may find that being outside offers a sense of peace and calmness.

Boredom is a common part of life, so we shouldn’t try to avoid it completely. Boredom can be a sign that you need a change in your daily life and something new to try. If you find yourself feeling bored, use these ideas to find new hobbies. After all, hobbies can greatly enrich your life and help you feel more satisfied!

4 . Anger may seem unappealing, but this emotion is a necessary part of your well-being. As with joy and sadness, expressing anger over a broken promise, a lost opportunity, or other inconvenience is healthy. However, if anger is frequently expressed, it will be harmful. Learning to deal with this emotion then becomes important.     1    .

Try positive exercises.

When you feel the unmistakable signs of your anger building up, try to focus on positive practices like deep breathing to calm yourself down.     2    . Repeating this exercise until your anger is under control can help to prevent an outburst and the negative outcomes that accompany it.

    3    .

Just as you open up to loved ones over the pain of heartbreak or the joy of a promotion, calling loved ones when you’re about to lose control of your anger is a healthy way of dealing with the emotion. Your friends and family can act as a support group, calming you until the worst is over.

Keep a mood journal.

A recommended way to deal with anger and recognize how frequently you embrace this emotion is keeping a journal to track your emotions.     4    , you can understand your feelings better. Then you can easily find a proper way to control your anger.

See a therapist (治疗师).

    5    , seeking professional guidance is always a welcome way to get things under control. A licensed mental health professional can help you recognize and control the negative thoughts that may lead to an angry outburst.

5 . Coursework, quizzes, and activities can all get you, a high school student, too stressful sometimes.     1     If you’re worried about your exams, try and turn a negative into a positive and follow these steps:

i. Find out why you’re worried about your results.

Think you’re not prepared? Don’t know how you’re going to learn everything in time? Or do you just get nervous in test conditions?     2     It’s important to figure out what exactly is making you have negative thoughts; you can start doing something about it.

ii. See the improvements to ease your worries.

Are you already doing hours of revision and are still worried? Maybe you’re not seeing the results of your revision.     3     Make a list of all the topics you need to revise and tick them off when you’ve learnt them, turning that “I know nothing” feeling into an “I am ready” feeling.

iii.     4    

While it’s great to realise that all people are having a hard time with revision, it’s important you don’t get used to thinking negatively about your results. Positive thinking has been shown to build up confidence and reduce anxiety. So even if you’re talking about your fear for the results, make sure you’re imagining yourself passing with success.

iv. Study now!

    5     If you hate some of your topics then those topics might be causing you stress-revise those until you’re more comfortable and your revision will be better.

7 . A new study published by Dan Johnson of Washington and Lee University shows experimentally that reading fiction increases empathy (共情).

The participants were asked to read a short story and report their mood. Then, in a staged accident, the experimenter knocked over several pens and recorded whether the participants helped pick them up. They found that the more people were transported into the story, the more likely they were to help pick up the dropped pens. Those who engaged more deeply with the fictional characters also showed more empathy for the real-life person.

Empathy, like patience appears to be a character that can be improved with practice. Study has shown the more students read books, especially storybooks, the better they are at understanding the emotions of others. However, researchers at the University of Michigan reported last year that empathy among college students had declined during the past 30 years, with an especially steep drop in the last decade. The reason is plain to see.

It’s important to understand where empathy comes from in the first place. Looking at the evolution of the human mind, it has been suggested that the ability to process hypothetical scenarios (假设情景) of what another person might be thinking provided an advantage to our early ancestors. Empathy may have arisen from one of the most fundamental human characteristics—the ability to cheat.

Storytelling is essentially just a kind of art. Is Harry Potter real? No, but by projecting ourselves into his story, we’re engaging a very real part of our brain. That sense of escape or social participation often is what makes books so enjoyable. Unfortunately, books are falling out of style. The cause of this is partially due to e book sales, which have arisen greatly over the past few years and taken a share out of the physical book market without necessarily indicating a decline in reading.

Even though some of us would like to, we can’t blame the digital retailers for our decreased empathy. In fact, some people probably read more with their more convenient e-readers than ever before with hard copies. It’s the culture of reading in general that needs to change.