Weekly Wellbeing Focus – Turning off Auto-pilot / Living or Existing

Welcome to the Weekly Wellbeing Focus. The focus for this week is Turning off Auto-pilot / Living or Existing.

Parent Wellbeing: Have an attitude of Gratitude by looking for and appreciating the things that make you feel happier, no matter how small, bringing to mind something that made you smile recently, writing down three things that you are thankful for, and sending a hand written note to a person that you’re happy to have in your life.

As Oscar Wilde so wisely once said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people merely exist.” So many students, and in fact, the general population, spend most days on autopilot being pulled along by other peoples’ choices. We need to cultivate in our young people that they have plenty of choices and possibilities in their lives, and that the first choice they to make, is to choose to choose.

To move their mindsets from existing to living, we need to teach students how to pause, take notice, be curious and explore what they see and think about with new eyes. This occurs when they believe that they are capable of changing and growing by trying and learning new and more challenging things with other people. Accepting that their brains rewirewith every experience they have, they will live much more. This type of attitude is often called a growth mindset.

Students who just exist, tend to believe that there is nothing that they can do to change their lives, and miss out on experiencing the natural highs which come from the feel good brain chemicals serotonin and oxytocin. This type of attitude is often called a fixed mindset. They are not lazy, they just aren’t prepared to fail at anything.

Acknowledgement: Kabat Zinn & Baer

“Life is a game, play it; Life is a challenge, Meet it; Life is an opportunity, Capture it.” Unknown

Some useful videos that discuss this week’s focus: