The Other Side of Languishing Is Flourishing.
Here’s How to Get There.

Recovering after the pandemic

After more than a year spent in our homes, many of us feel the need to find a purpose and have started to search for new things that could make us feel fulfilled. This new fusion of physical, mental, and emotional fitness is called “flourishing”. Psychologists are studying this phenomenon and the scientific evidence inclines in its favor. Numerous studies demonstrate how simple activities improve our well-being.

How can one know you’re flourishing?

There are quite simple ways to assess if you are flourishing. Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale, shows how easy is to find out if you are flourishing using simple, common sense questions like:

“Do you wake up ready to start your day or would you rather go back to sleep?”
“Do you have a sense of purpose or do you find how you spend much of your day to be meaningless?”

Simple ways for flourishing

Sometimes the little things make a big difference. Big, but also, small moments of happiness of victory should be celebrated as well. Taking a photo of an important or meaningful moment can also benefit your well-being. Creating a gratitude ritual like Sunday dinner with your family, or listing 5 things you are grateful for can also be useful. Helping others, connecting with your community, trying something new, or finding purpose in everyday routines can also support you on your way to flourishing.

What do we take from this?

With more and more people vaccinating, things are starting to go back to normal. For some, this whole time alone was a gate to discover new things that make them feel good. More and more people are talking about the things that have helped them flourish in this pandemic. This proves that we are capable of finding a silver lining in uncertain times and can discover or rediscover what makes us feel good.