I see mental health and well-being and happiness as two different things so it was hard for me to pick one answer. Morning is best for my mental health and well-being since my brain, poor little thing, can get some rest. The sleep helps clear it out to tackle a new day for my mental health and well-being. The happiness is when the tackling of the day can get left behind and family is together, so that time is at and after dinner.
I picked evenings because of the statement in the newsletter "Then, we get up the next day to do it all again?" The beginning of the day feels like another day to do it all over again. My evenings, on the other hand, when the daily responsibilities are done, are for me to do whatever I want to do that day for a few hours before I go to bed. The sooner that I can finish everything to get to "my time", the better.
ETA: after reading others' replies, I'm retired, so my reply is affected by that regarding times of day...
sleeping & mental health - I was w/ a group of friends the other night & we talked about waking up at different times. One common comment, & I believe research might back us on this, is when someone has trouble sleeping at night &/or wakes up & has trouble getting back to sleep it's cause "thinking gets out of control". And our discussion didn't include this, but research very well might, that "thinking" is often negative thinking. So "midnight" might lead to "well, I woke up at midnight, began having negative thoughts, led to being unhappy", etc...
And uh-oh, Bill, I think this subject has been discussed before. I again think research might back it up. I know a lot of people, Night Owls, I know personally can back it up. Night Owls have more cases of Alzheimer's than early-to-bed, early-to-rise.
Personally, I wake early, am generally happy thru-out the day. Can be happy by myself, am socially active in volunteer work as well as activities like dancing, game playing w/ others & pool playing, so that keeps me happy during those times. If I stay up too late, no matter how late, that can stress me out 'cause no matter what my inner clock will wake me up early the next day.
The guy in prison who was released - I'm very sad about his imprisonment, but of course glad he's now free. His comment about seeing how connected people are, tho is kind-of a yes/no, imo. Studies show the younger generation, especially, spends half or more of their social time on their phones. Some don't date. I'll take this a step further, saying the habits formed in those years could set up habits in later years & studies also show that being socially connected, doing more socially when older helps prevent or delay things like Alzheimer's, or depression. So if kids are isolating themselves via too much use of their phones now, setting up those habits, don't know what's in store for them later. So the released prison guy sees people connected via phone, but are they really connected??? Sitting across from each other at a restaurant table, each on their phone... at a social event, phones ringing, "Oh, excuse me, I have to answer this (if you even get that much of a courtesy)...
To your point. The last two lines of that “other thing”
“Mr Cordeiro, who has always maintained his innocence, said he has been trying to get used to how connected people are. "Everybody is looking at their phones," he said.”
I’d argue that when everybody is looking at their phone, they are NOT connected.
I enjoy life and am at my happiest in the late afternoon and early evening. That’s the time I can enjoy walks with my dog, being with my wife, enjoying classes I take with my wife, riding my bike, going to the gym. It’s a time I can put aside the tribulations of the day and relish life!
I accidentally hit night owl when I intended to hit the last options so feel free to correct that.
It all depends on what I did the previous day (I am retired), how well I slept and what is going on today. Take cycling as an example: I can be just as happy starting out on a long bike ride as I am for hours after I am back with endorphins coursing through my body. I’m just as happy sitting here drinking coffee, reading the morning news while petting my dog.
Zelensky…what a guy, willing to sacrifice all for his country! A great leader that demonstrates daily that he cares about all his constituents. He is a wonderful example of authentic masculinity.
What time of day? When I check my happiness meter, it's not the time of day. Often, it's the weekend - but then looking into the weekend it's what I'm doing and who I'm with: Taking the lady out; playing with the boy; playing with the golfing men who act like boys. My happiness meter is "up" when I'm with people I care about - and that could be any time of the day.
I think some people re just naturally happy regardless of the time of day. Being positive about life in general will get you through the tough times than consistently seeing the negative. Happy is relative.
Is Zelensky one y or 2? I have seen it both ways.
I really worry what is going g to be left of the U.S. once Donald Trump is done with it.
I think, for me anyway, I get up refreshed, have my coffee, do my brain games and get my day started. As the day goes on, there is stress. responsibility, problem solving, appointments, deadlines, etc. You finish the day and, if you're me, have to cook dinner, maybe throw in a load of laundry. When I finally settle in and make time for myself, it's after 8pm, sometimes closer to 9pm. I wouldn't say I'm depressed, but I'm done. I want to talk to no-one, or have to make any more decisions by that time.
My happiness varies from day to day, depending on what I am engaged with. Happiness is determined by what is going on in your life and your general attitude towards life.
as a performance psychologist i am quite certain the impact of sleep and mental fatigue play an important role, as well as nutrition, sluggish mental processes tend to impair positivity. consider the impact.of a power nap or a light balanced meal as well
I'm happy/blessed all day. Everyday upright is a great day! I think it is the fact that when things are a challenge, I lean on the Lord "to carry me" through. I always note how things could be worse. Just my frame of mind for a happy life :-)
I have a theory, that is probably very true, that there are two dominant wirings of our brians that switch when people feel the most energized. It's not just that the night owl stays up late/sleeps later and the larks go to bed earlier/get up earlier. It's that all the brain juice flows better for the larks at the beginning of their wake cycle and the end of the wake cycle for the owls.
I believe this ties into EVERYTHING else, happiness, willingness to workout, taking sick days. For example, my wife almost never takes off work when she is sick. She is a lark and she will feel the most "unsick" in the morning or will have more brain juice to push through it. If she had to work at night, I bet it would be different. I'm the opposite. I need sick days because I become useless. However, I can do more at night when I'm sick.
I see mental health and well-being and happiness as two different things so it was hard for me to pick one answer. Morning is best for my mental health and well-being since my brain, poor little thing, can get some rest. The sleep helps clear it out to tackle a new day for my mental health and well-being. The happiness is when the tackling of the day can get left behind and family is together, so that time is at and after dinner.
I picked evenings because of the statement in the newsletter "Then, we get up the next day to do it all again?" The beginning of the day feels like another day to do it all over again. My evenings, on the other hand, when the daily responsibilities are done, are for me to do whatever I want to do that day for a few hours before I go to bed. The sooner that I can finish everything to get to "my time", the better.
ETA: after reading others' replies, I'm retired, so my reply is affected by that regarding times of day...
sleeping & mental health - I was w/ a group of friends the other night & we talked about waking up at different times. One common comment, & I believe research might back us on this, is when someone has trouble sleeping at night &/or wakes up & has trouble getting back to sleep it's cause "thinking gets out of control". And our discussion didn't include this, but research very well might, that "thinking" is often negative thinking. So "midnight" might lead to "well, I woke up at midnight, began having negative thoughts, led to being unhappy", etc...
And uh-oh, Bill, I think this subject has been discussed before. I again think research might back it up. I know a lot of people, Night Owls, I know personally can back it up. Night Owls have more cases of Alzheimer's than early-to-bed, early-to-rise.
Personally, I wake early, am generally happy thru-out the day. Can be happy by myself, am socially active in volunteer work as well as activities like dancing, game playing w/ others & pool playing, so that keeps me happy during those times. If I stay up too late, no matter how late, that can stress me out 'cause no matter what my inner clock will wake me up early the next day.
The guy in prison who was released - I'm very sad about his imprisonment, but of course glad he's now free. His comment about seeing how connected people are, tho is kind-of a yes/no, imo. Studies show the younger generation, especially, spends half or more of their social time on their phones. Some don't date. I'll take this a step further, saying the habits formed in those years could set up habits in later years & studies also show that being socially connected, doing more socially when older helps prevent or delay things like Alzheimer's, or depression. So if kids are isolating themselves via too much use of their phones now, setting up those habits, don't know what's in store for them later. So the released prison guy sees people connected via phone, but are they really connected??? Sitting across from each other at a restaurant table, each on their phone... at a social event, phones ringing, "Oh, excuse me, I have to answer this (if you even get that much of a courtesy)...
To your point. The last two lines of that “other thing”
“Mr Cordeiro, who has always maintained his innocence, said he has been trying to get used to how connected people are. "Everybody is looking at their phones," he said.”
I’d argue that when everybody is looking at their phone, they are NOT connected.
I enjoy life and am at my happiest in the late afternoon and early evening. That’s the time I can enjoy walks with my dog, being with my wife, enjoying classes I take with my wife, riding my bike, going to the gym. It’s a time I can put aside the tribulations of the day and relish life!
I accidentally hit night owl when I intended to hit the last options so feel free to correct that.
It all depends on what I did the previous day (I am retired), how well I slept and what is going on today. Take cycling as an example: I can be just as happy starting out on a long bike ride as I am for hours after I am back with endorphins coursing through my body. I’m just as happy sitting here drinking coffee, reading the morning news while petting my dog.
Zelensky…what a guy, willing to sacrifice all for his country! A great leader that demonstrates daily that he cares about all his constituents. He is a wonderful example of authentic masculinity.
I'm happy all day...every day!
What time of day? When I check my happiness meter, it's not the time of day. Often, it's the weekend - but then looking into the weekend it's what I'm doing and who I'm with: Taking the lady out; playing with the boy; playing with the golfing men who act like boys. My happiness meter is "up" when I'm with people I care about - and that could be any time of the day.
I think some people re just naturally happy regardless of the time of day. Being positive about life in general will get you through the tough times than consistently seeing the negative. Happy is relative.
Is Zelensky one y or 2? I have seen it both ways.
I really worry what is going g to be left of the U.S. once Donald Trump is done with it.
I think, for me anyway, I get up refreshed, have my coffee, do my brain games and get my day started. As the day goes on, there is stress. responsibility, problem solving, appointments, deadlines, etc. You finish the day and, if you're me, have to cook dinner, maybe throw in a load of laundry. When I finally settle in and make time for myself, it's after 8pm, sometimes closer to 9pm. I wouldn't say I'm depressed, but I'm done. I want to talk to no-one, or have to make any more decisions by that time.
Oh retirement will be a 🤩
My happiness varies from day to day, depending on what I am engaged with. Happiness is determined by what is going on in your life and your general attitude towards life.
as a performance psychologist i am quite certain the impact of sleep and mental fatigue play an important role, as well as nutrition, sluggish mental processes tend to impair positivity. consider the impact.of a power nap or a light balanced meal as well
Is this me? Or you?
I'm happy/blessed all day. Everyday upright is a great day! I think it is the fact that when things are a challenge, I lean on the Lord "to carry me" through. I always note how things could be worse. Just my frame of mind for a happy life :-)
Absolutely 💯
Interesting thought. As I explain to my kids (I’m 75), one is as happy as one chooses, time is just a construct. My idea! Love your newsletter.
I have a theory, that is probably very true, that there are two dominant wirings of our brians that switch when people feel the most energized. It's not just that the night owl stays up late/sleeps later and the larks go to bed earlier/get up earlier. It's that all the brain juice flows better for the larks at the beginning of their wake cycle and the end of the wake cycle for the owls.
I believe this ties into EVERYTHING else, happiness, willingness to workout, taking sick days. For example, my wife almost never takes off work when she is sick. She is a lark and she will feel the most "unsick" in the morning or will have more brain juice to push through it. If she had to work at night, I bet it would be different. I'm the opposite. I need sick days because I become useless. However, I can do more at night when I'm sick.
Gratitude comes easy in the morning. Fresh, quiet, contemplative and centering and dialoguing with God.
Evenings are often filled with positive feelings of accomplishment. Review, inventory and a sense of earned rest (an honest day's work?).
Gratitude and accomplishment seem to be happiness, or what I am more inclined to call it, life more abundant.