Today’s Solutions: January 20, 2025

Lifestyle

Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.

Somali women smiling into the camera

All-women news source launches in Somalia to cover inequality

Journalism used to be called the Fourth Estate, referring to its political and societal influence within a country. It has the power to expose injustices and sound a call to action from the people. Finding solutions to endemic problems often starts by identifying them in the media. For a fair Read More...

Photo of a Finnish Lapphund dog jumping over obstacle in agility course.

How to overcome the 5 mental obstacles that stand in the way of happiness

In the book "The Five Hurdles to Happiness", author Mitch Ablett sets off to describe five reactive mental habits originally identified in ancient meditative traditions. Though these habits evolved for important reasons—to keep us safe from danger, for example—many of us find them less than Read More...

Aging balance puzzles

Research finds your brain health now could affect your balance later

It should be our goal, everyone’s goal, to live long and to live well. Investing in your later years doesn’t just mean putting away and investing money or buying a house. It means strengthening our relationships, staying mentally and physically active, and utilizing preventative health care. As Read More...

Illustration of person reading the news.

How to practice news-resilience in a world of negativity bias

It’s well known that humans have an ingrained negativity bias, where negative events more significantly impact our psychological state than positive events. This tendency toward gloom is also reflected in media, with a study from The New York Times revealing mainstream media outlets carry a Read More...

Berry smoothie

From the Supreme Court to smoothies: 5 favorites from our optimist editor-in-chief

The Optimist Daily is all about solutions — those that make big impacts in the world as well as those that enhance our daily lives. As solution-seekers, news readers, and good-for-the-world-and-soul product searchers, we often feature discoveries that promise to make our lives better. This week, Read More...

Matcha green tea latte in a cup.

The scoop on matcha tea

If you’re not familiar with matcha, it’s a finely ground powder from dried green tea leaves. Because the matcha leaves grow in shaded bushes, they have increased levels of chlorophyll so they can absorb as much sunlight as possible. This gives the leaves and the drink their eye-catching color. Read More...

Istanbul

This Turkish charity directly connects donors to those in need

Many people couldn’t get by without the invaluable work done by the non-profit sector. Philanthropic organizations the world over, such as the Red Cross or the Halo Trust, provide essential services, effect societal change, and even repair damage from conflicts. In cases of providing funds to Read More...

Stressed business man rushing in the office with not enough time to do his work.

Waking up stressed? You might be overestimating how much you can do in a day

If you wake up feeling like you’re already behind and overwhelmed, perhaps it’s time to reframe the way you look at the day. The issue may not be that you don’t have enough time in the day to get things done, it could just be that you planned unrealistically. Why do we fall into this Read More...

Argan oil

Five health benefits of argan oil

With time and real-world experience, humans often discover multiple uses for a single plant or vegetable. Okra is a delicious and highly nutritious vegetable that goes great in a variety of spicy dishes, and the gooey compound it excretes can be used to extract microplastics from water.  A Read More...

Happy Earth Day

Love and Action: Happy Earth Day!

“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.” — Marshall McLuhan, philosopher   As far as we know, Earth is the best place in the Universe.  The search for life beyond our planet and even our solar system is ongoing, and one day we could very well make the Read More...