The Friendliest New Yorker -- posted by Katherine

WEEK FOUR: DAY TWO

Having recently moved from California, I feel like the Good Will ambassador to New York. We Californians are a nice lot. Maybe it's the sunshine and the fresh ocean air. Or perhaps it's the high cost of living ‑- we'd better to be happy with where we're living at those prices.

But New York is a whole different state (of mind). And while I usually try to assimilate to a new city or situation ("when in Rome..."), I've made a conscious effort to retain my Golden State ways.

I smile at strangers when I walk down the street, I say good morning to the security guard at work, I ask the cashiers at coffee shops how they are doing.

My goal in doing this is not to be annoying, although by the looks on some people's faces, I see that I am. And it's not even to brighten someone else's day. It's to make me feel better. Yes, it's a purely selfish motive. Because my life is all about me. Me. Me. Me.

When I smile at a stranger or chat with a store clerk, I feel better. I enjoy interacting with others. It makes me feel connected to humanity. And by acknowledging their gestures or hard work, it gives me hope that others will acknowledge my gestures and my hard work.

Sometimes those small exchanges surprise me. I learned from the cashier at Whole Foods that Zimbabwe doesn’t celebrate Halloween, but they have a similar holiday to celebrate the dead. The other day, my taxi driver told me where to find the best falafel in town.

So I will continue to smile and say "hi" and "how are you." If it annoys you, sorry, but I won't stop. I don't do it for you, anyway. I'm a New Yorker now, and I'm looking out for number one.

Underground Meditation -- posted by Katherine

WEEK THREE: DAY TWO

Yesterday I practiced moving meditation, but not walking meditation as the challenge suggested. I was moving much faster during my meditation: I was on the subway. And let me tell you, if there’s any place where a relaxed state of mind is necessary, it’s on the New York City subway system.

When you think about it, the subway is the perfect place to practice meditation. Riding a crowded subway car during rush hour is already a practice in the art of disengagement. For those of you unfamiliar with the unwritten rules and regulations of riding, two of the most stringent practices are: (1) you don’t talk on the subway, especially not anything personal because everyone will be listening to you, and (2), you don’t make eye contact with other riders. (This doesn’t mean that you don’t look at other people, but you just never let them catch you looking at them.)

As I clambered on packed express train yesterday, I shoved my New York Times in my bag (there wasn’t room to hold it in front of me anyway), grabbed on to the greasy metal pole and took a deep breath. I focused my gaze on an empty patch of floor at my feet and pictured it rising up to meet my eyes. The polished Oxfords, pant legs, high heels and nylons blurred in the periphery as the black speckled linoleum rose like some 3-D special effect.

Aside from the sound of the train speeding along the tracks, the car was silent. I was still waking up, so there wasn’t much chatter in my mind to suppress. I concentrated on my breathing and how my body bounced and undulated as the train bumped along the tracks.

I was briefly interrupted when the train pulled into the different stations, and the car emptied and refilled with new passengers. When we got to my stop, I filed off the train and realized how calm I felt despite being in Times Square during rush hour. It’s not a bad way to spend the morning commute.

...

As an aside, I wanted to point out that in addition to the other health benefits mentioned in the challenge, meditation has been show to reduced blood pressure. Just one more reason to practice this ancient tradition.

If You Can't Say Something Nice... -- posted by Katherine

WEEK THREE: DAY TWO

My best friend Meredith has taught me a lot in life. In high school it was about boys, rap music and partying. After college it was about break-ups, living on our own and affording new clothes by selling our old ones in consignment shops.

But more recently, she has taught me about being positive. Meredith is the most positive person I know. And not in the sickeningly sweet, Hallmark sorta way, but in the wow-that’s-amazing-you-can-be-so-positive-about-such-a-crappy-situation way.

When her car breaks down for the fourth time in as many months, she doesn’t curse and moan, calling the mechanic to scream in his ear. She says, “Things could have been worse. At least I wasn’t on the highway when it happened.” And when the $300 bill comes and she has to figure out how to pay it on her teacher’s salary, she doesn’t freak out, but takes it all in stride.

Meredith has become my role model for positive thinking. When I catch myself thinking negatively, I stop and think, "What would Meredith say in this situation? How would she react?" It takes practice to stop the negative chatter in our brains. The good in things lies beneath the layers of cynicism and negativity.

But with a little practice, it becomes infinitely easier to not only think positive, but to actually be positive.

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Yesterday’s task cited the study about people not being any more or less happy if they won the lottery. I beg to differ, and I’m sure there are those of you out there who would agree.

I would argue that if I won the lottery, especially the mega millions grand jackpot and didn’t have to split the winnings with anyone, I’d be pretty darn ecstatic. I’d be ridiculously giddy, in fact, even after taxes. And I’m sure that by proliferating some of my newfound winnings, I could make quite a few other people happy, too.

In fact, if there are any scientific minds in the audience, I encourage you to test this theory out. I will be your guinea pig. Give me a couple million dollars and see if a smile doesn’t part my lips. I’ll wager some of my newfound wealth that it will.

That being said, I also understand that happiness comes from within. And given the odds of winning the lottery (or finding a wealthy benefactor, heck, even a sugardaddy), the best place to start is with me.

So this week I’m challenging myself to find the positive every situation. I’m going to pay at least one person a compliment a day. I’m going to smile at a stranger when we make eye contact on the street and say thank you to the cashiers in stores. These small gestures add up to a big part of who we are and what we make of our lives.

I love the Dalai Lama’s quote from yesterday’s task: "I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness." Now that’s a full time job I’ll never quit. Even if I did win the lottery.

I have a feeling that Meredith has already found it.

Positively Negative -- Posted by Lindsey

WEEK THREE: DAY ONE

Yesterday's task about noticing how many negative stories I told myself was a big-time eye-opener for me. I had no idea how many times a day I had negative thoughts when they could very easily have been turned positive. I hope I don't sound as bad on the outside as I do in my own head -- I'm quite whiny to myself.

The first time I noticed my negative thought pattern, I was at Starbucks (my little retreat for "me" time during the day). Usually, the baristas are always so quick, but last night they were taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Five minutes into waiting, I was getting seriously agitated. There was no line and no discernable reason it should take that long to make a tall, decaf, non-fat, no-whip, pumpkin spice latte. My foot started tapping, and I could feel the scowl forming across my face.

But in the back of my mind somewhere, I remembered our task for the day. At first, I had a hard time putting a positive spin on the situation. Eventually, however, I realized that the long wait wasn't necessarily such a bad thing. It gave me more time to relax between work and the long evening of a crying one-year-old that awaited me.

Getting My Om On -- Posted by Tanya

I have a really hard time relaxing. I'm not even sure I know how to relax, and what I'm hoping to learn from this Challenge is how to slow it down a little.

I've been getting into yoga pretty heavily lately as part of my quest for a quiet mind and a healthier body. With that in mind, I headed out of my house last night to take a yoga class. I've been to a few lately, with mixed results. I know all the breathing and oming is supposed to help me relax, but I can feel my mind racing when I'm supposed to be focusing on expanding my breath in my stomach.

Fortunately, there is posing. When I'm straining for the ceiling mid boat pose, there is not a lot of room for random thoughts cluttering my mind. The tree pose? Forget about it -- I'm just trying not to literally fall on my fanny. Yoga does help me relax. It distracts me.