I saw this article while researching for a different thread I created. Since there have been a few threads recently about people feeling unhappy or depressed I figured I would share the article. Maybe it may help some of you guys (of course depression could also be due to a chemical problem in the brain, in which case a psychiatrist should be sought out) to live a happier and more fulfilling life.
In a recent interview with Pablo Calvo given to mark his 500 day anniversary as Pope, Pope Francis mentioned some tips for how to live a happier life. I'll enumerate them:
1. Live and Let Live - “The Romans have a saying, which can be taken as a point of reference,” the Pope said. “They say: Campa e lascia campà (Live and let live). That’s the first step to peace and happiness.”
2. Give yourself to others.
3. "move quietly" - "third, he proposed that one “move quietly” and cited the Argentine novel Don Segundo Sombra, written by Argentine poet and novelist Ricardo Güiraldes. In Don Segundo Sombra, there is a very beautiful thing, a man who looks back on his life, the Pope says. In his youth, the protagonist was a rocky stream that ran over everything, but as he became older, he was a running river and in old age was “quietly peaceful.” The Pope said the elderly have the wisdom to move with “kindness and humility” and have the “calmness of life.” He also repeated his concern that a people who doesn’t take care of its elderly “has no future.”
4. Play with children and have a healthy culture of leisure, reading and enjoying art - He mentioned that consumerism has led to the anxiety of losing this culture and that when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires he would ask young mothers how often they played with their children. He admits that finding time to play with their children can be hard for working parents, but "it must be done".
5. Spend Sundays with the family - he recalled that during a recent visit to Campobasso in Southern Italy, workers there did not want to work on Sundays.
6. Help Young people find employment - he says that creativity is needed and that young people who don't have jobs may "fall into drugs" and are more likely to commit suicide. He also recommended apprentice work for young people, so that they can learn a skill and have the "dignity of bringing home the bacon."
7. Look after nature.
8. Quickly forget about the negative - According to Pope Francis speaking badly of others shows low self-esteem.
9. Respect those who think differently.
10. Actively seek peace.
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