Summer has settled in to a simmering stifle with 90-degree days and gardens that beg for rain, inspiring us to offer a bit of wellness refreshment this month. A tall glass of tea and a shady spot will help you mellow into our August pages, featuring topics that highlight pollinators, tips for garden harvest preservation, discovering your potential with a life coach and finding the joy in creating happiness every day.

As we continue to unwind from a challenging few years, we’d be remiss to feature the topic of happiness without acknowledging the reality of the struggles of everyday life that can make joy feel elusive, or seemingly meant for others and not ourselves. When things are naturally going well and we encounter moments of levity, we can choose to pause, feel the feelings and celebrate. When things take a turn, and collective challenges and personal traumas occur, acknowledging the experience, allowing for help, being willing to find meaning in the difficulties and leaning into our cultivated resilience­–the ability to bounce back–can be keys to moving through the harder times. Trauma is universal–we can’t escape it–though the timing, portions, response and duration differ for each of us. What’s encouraging is that by developing our resilience we can learn to build up our ability to heal from the past, manage our present and strengthen ourselves for what is to come.

In our feature article, “Think Yourself Happy: Seven Ways to Change Your Mind and Be Happier,” Ronica O’Hara draws on wisdom gleaned by therapists, psychologists and researchers supporting the idea that we have at least some control over our own happiness by managing our thoughts and our actions. In recent years, research has shown that practices such as acknowledging gratitude, seeking serenity, allowing room for hope, experiencing awe and dwelling in love can have a positive difference in our daily life.

Being grateful for the big and little things, for friends, family, home, and a meaningful daily routine, we can practice saying thank you often, recognizing specifically all the ways that people, places and experiences make a positive difference our lives. Childlike wonder can be ours at any age, as we gaze in awe at the colorful paintings in the sky at sunrise or sunset, take in the sound and sight of rushing brooks and the artistry of cloud formations, or the miracles found in natural healing and modern medical advances. And thankfully, there are so many ways to find ourselves in love … such as in a warm embrace, the presence of family, friends and receiving the kind act of a stranger.

You are a valued and important part of someone’s life, and you matter. Take a moment and let goodness sink in. May you be well,

Kendra & Jacqueline