The Woman’s Alliance Rosh Hodesh luncheon: Positive psychology, the Huffington Post and mindful living

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Rosh Hodesh event committee, left to right, Kit Haspel, Sherry Cohen, Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow, Maybeth Lichaa, Marcia Hirsch, Toby London, Barbara Sheer with guest, Rabbi Elan Babchuck.Rosh Hodesh event committee, left to right, Kit Haspel, Sherry Cohen, Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow, Maybeth Lichaa, Marcia Hirsch, Toby London, Barbara Sheer with guest, Rabbi Elan Babchuck.

On Oct. 28, more than 50 community members gathered at Temple Emanu-El for a Women’s Alliance Rosh Hodesh luncheon presentation by Rabbi Elan Babchuck. The topic was timeless and universal: how is happiness defined today and how has it been defined throughout history.

Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow, chair of the Rosh Hodesh series, welcomed the audience with poignant reminders of the essential and far-reaching impact of giving to the Alliance Annual Campaign. The funds raised through the campaign each year support overseas and local needs such as providing quality programs and imperative social services developed and operated by Jewish Family Service for those seeking mental health and emotional wellness counseling. These reminders were particularly touching given the topic at hand.

Surrounded by women ready to learn and take with them new ideas and concepts, Babchuck began his meaningful discussion by sharing an anecdote of an overgrown plant, unhealthy and contained to his backyard. It took a local landscaper to point out recently that this very plant required just as much attention as we do to thrive. In fact, it needed the same essentials: water, oxygen and love. He then turned to the group and asked what else it is we need to thrive. Audience members responded with similar answers, “Kindness. Caring. Community.” Babchuck rolled those suggestions into one term: positive psychology.

According to the online journal Simply Psychology, positive psychology began as a new area of psychology in 1998. It is a term psychologist Martin Seligman took from Abraham Maslow’s 1954 book “Motivation and Personality,” which uses scientific understanding and intervention to aid in the achievement of a satisfactory life; the goal being to change negative thoughts and reactions to positive ones. It is, in short, a way to connect with the world by making a concerted effort to change one’s thoughts and actions.

“It’s in choosing our activities, our proactive decisions to be more mindful. It’s in being more present and aware of every move we make at every moment so we are grateful for what is, not what we think should be,” shared Babchuck. And as Maimonides reinforces for us, “The external can awaken the internal.”

So just how does this relate to the Huffington Post and the way individuals should consider living their lives today? Babchuck pointed out Arianna Huffington’s overarching question for her new hires – are you living your resume or are you living your eulogy?

As posted online at HuffingtonPost.com, Huffington herself suggests redefining individual success, moving beyond money and power and, instead, acknowledging that success is relative. She says to live a truly successful life, we must combine comfort, wisdom, admiration and giving into our lives, and be grateful for the process. She’s made this an ongoing goal of her newspaper and online journal:

“It’s easy to let ourselves get consumed by our work. It’s easy to use work to let ourselves forget the things and the people that truly sustain us. It’s easy to let technology wrap us in a perpetually harried, stressed-out existence. It’s easy, in effect, to miss our lives even while we’re living them. Until we’re no longer living them.”

No one will ever state that he wished he spent more time at the office. But he will admit to wishing he’d spent more time pitching a ball to his son, planting a garden with his daughter, sharin g time with his family, or giving back to his community.

Babchuck challenged participants to live more than their resumes, and as the Women’s Alliance luncheon concluded, he reminded everyone, “We need to adjust our views and control our input to change our output.”

In today’s otherwise seemingly egocentric world, the effects of positive psychology, mindfulness and deliberate reflection or meditation are those we could all benefit from – just go slowly, be patient and be a present fixture in the process. 

JENNIFER ZWIRN is in grants and planning for the Jewish Alliance.