Author: Paul Wong

Kevin Bluer A comprehensive and workable model of global well-being needs to have the following elements:  It integrates the best ideas from East and West, ancient and modern days.  It integrates the biological, social, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of personhood.  It is supported by psychological research, historical research, clinical observations, and everyday human experiences.  It is based on terms that are understandable by people from different cultures and precise enough to be tested empirically.  It takes into account the economic, political, environmental, societal, and stress factors that are known to impact the well-being of human beings individually and collectively.   It is...

Kimberly Farmer As educators, we are faced with the challenging question of how to prepare young people for an uncertain future of accelerated change, intensified global competition, and turbulent political waves. In this context, we realize that we need a whole person education that cultivates the mind, the heart, the hand, and social involvement.  Aristotle has said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” There is ample evidence that psychopaths can be intelligent and well-educated but without empathy and conscience. Science has also confirmed that success and money do not bring happiness if our lives are without meaning and virtue.  Thus, a meaning-centered positive education...

Ambreen Hasan There are numerous theories and hypotheses about how to live a happy and meaningful life. My own meaning hypothesis posits that a good life consists of meaning, virtue, and happiness, with meaning playing the key role (Wong, 2012, 2015).  After reviewing Viktor Frankl’s contributions and my own research on meaning, I explain (a) the meaning of different types of meaning; (b) the constituents of meaning; (c) the sources of meaning; and (d) the protectives roles of meaning.  Meaning contributes to our well-being in at least three ways: (a) enhancing our positive feelings, mature happiness, and health; (b) protecting us from stress through meaning-focused coping and moderating the effects of stress; and (c) contributing to our capacity for resilience and grit (Wong, 2014).  Regarding the practical ways to live a...

Capturing the human heart. Life is hard in every stage of development. Just as we need IQ to do well in school, we need life intelligence (LQ) to do well in life. Winning the world but losing one’s soul is not real success because a self-centered, unethical life could be very lonely and miserable. A truly rewarding life enjoys a high level of well-being and, at the same time, makes a significant contribution to humanity. A well-lived life is also one of relating well to others and adapting well to all the demands of life. It is a matter of life intelligence rather than good luck to live such a blessed life.   This...