PERMA-nent Tricks I'm Keeping

One of my classmates said in their blog last week that, "Despite all of our differences, political, religious, income, we are all more alike than different." I want this to be something I will always remember and retain throughout the rest of my life. Who doesn't need that reminder practically daily?

Something from this weeks lesson that I want to always have with me was the video of Shawn Achor explaining what Positive Psychology is. He does it with such clarity, simplicity, and joy that I couldn't help but love every second of it.

Another part of this weeks lesson I want in my arsenal is the PERMA model itself. It can't get any more clear than it does in the lesson materials.

One thing neat that I learned about myself this week through the lesson was what my character strengths are. This knowledge will help me immensely as I strive to reach out and better myself and others. Using my strengths will be that much easier now that I better understand what they are.

Funny enough, this week I went to town on my practicum and very quickly learned that there is a lot of wiggle room needed. I found that I would have a game plan, but it wouldn't always go how I planned. Back up plans are incredibly important and can help everything run smoothly. Always have a backup plan!

In the past I found that positive thinking was incredibly helpful when working with those who have disabilities. It can be challenging and frustrating at times, so thinking positively helped a lot. What I also learned was that positive thinking is key to helping absolutely everyone to be happy, disability or not. This lesson about the PERMA model and positive psychology taught me so much more about what this all means.

A site that helped me a lot this week was the Positive Psychology page on the University of Pennsylvania website. The part I enjoyed the most of this site was the frequently asked questions page. One part really caught my attention. It was in response to "Is positive psychology just about making people happy?" It said, " Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. According to Seligman (2002), positive psychology has three central concerns: positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions." It obviously said more, but that was the part that taught me the most and that I really wanted to remember.