Twelve Good Things 2023 – Dr. Rick Hanson

wpadminAugust 1, 2025

0 13 4 minutes read

Each year I use an issue of the Just One Thing newsletter to offer Twelve Good Things that I think are really wonderful and worth your attention.

May you and those you love and the whole wide world be truly well, truly happy, and truly at peace.

— ONE —

The Global Compassion Coalition is working to build a better world, with compassion and justice at its heart. Please join me and over a hundred thousand others — it’s free, and growing by several thousand a week — to connect inner and outer, the personal and the political, so that people and the planet are truly thriving. Together, we can be big enough to be strong enough to make the world we long for!

Our key partner is the Charter for Compassion, an international force for good, including its work to promote compassionate cities, prosocial schools and businesses, and a global network of millions of people who have affirmed the Charter itself.

— TWO —

Greater Good Science Center

— THREE —

The Foundations of Well-Being 2.0

For all our efforts, humanity is producing more greenhouse gasses than ever. Sure, we should pressure companies and countries to change. But they keep blocking emissions reductions and making money as fast as they can while the planet burns up.
Meanwhile, as much as we try to have a greener lifestyle, we each have an unavoidable carbon footprint—16 metric tons of CO2 a year for the average American.
Individually, you and I can’t change Exxon Mobil or Saudia Arabia. But for less than half a dollar a day, we can each compensate for our personal carbon footprint through legitimate “offsets,” like donating to plant trees, protect wetlands from the developer’s bulldozer, or deliver water filtration kits so people don’t have to burn wood to boil water so it’s safe to drink.
With others, I’m helping to build a global movement of eventually hundreds of millions of individuals who make a moral commitment to being Net Zero themselves. At scale, this could impact 5-10% of annual greenhouse gasses, year after year after year. This might seem unrealistic, but it’s a lot more realistic than hoping that the fossil fuel industry and its political allies will act against their own profit interests.
It’s easy to feel helpless, and just tune out and give up. They want you to do that. But you have the power to compensate for your unavoidable carbon footprint. This is individual moral action, not companies gaming the carbon markets with wildly inflated offsets. And together, we can become a mighty political force on the world stage, saying: “I’ve Done My Part – Now Do Yours!”

— FIVE —

Rick’s Recommended Books of 2023

Worthy Nonprofits

BRITE Initiative remains an organization near and dear to my heart. Their school in Haiti for kindergarten through 8th grade serves children who would not otherwise get a decent education. They have about 120 students who still need support for this school year, and you might like to join me in sponsoring one of them.

Buddhist Global Relief is also close to my heart. Over 90% of what’s donated to them goes directly to feeding people, operating schools — including for girls who would otherwise suffer a terrible fate — and demonstrating the power of boundless lovingkindness.

And I’ve recently learned about Mwanzo in rural Kenya, and the extraordinary work of its founder, Loyce Ong’udi. Their slogan is “hope has a home here”—profoundly true in a setting in which hundreds of people will turn out to celebrate the graduation of children from kindergarten.

— SEVEN —

Movies and Videos

I saw a lot this year that entertained, educated, and/or inspired me. I won’t try to explain my choices here; proceed at your own risk!

In TV shows, The Bear season 2 was even better than season 1; The Gilded Age is an ambivalent pleasure (the actual horrors of wealth inequality, sexism, and racism in the 1880s get airbrushed out); The Diplomat is so intelligent, so engaging; Poker Face is tons of fun; and of course, the final season of Ted Lasso.

It’s been an up-and-down year and here’s some good news to end it:

— NINE —

Wellspring Institute

The Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom is supported entirely by donations and gathers, organizes, and freely offers information and methods — supported by brain science and the contemplative disciplines — for greater happiness, love, effectiveness, and wisdom. The institute publishes the free, bimonthly Wise Brain Bulletin, provides funding for research, and maintains a database of key scientific papers. You can support this 501c(3) non-profit organization here.

— TEN —

The Wonder of Space

— ELEVEN —

Free, Live Online Meditation Groups

Much research has shown that meditation is a powerful way to develop greater resilience, compassion, and happiness – as well as strengthen the immune system and promote other health benefits. You can join me for free every Wednesday as I offer a talk and meditation that draws on modern psychology, brain science, and the teachings of the Buddha. My good friends Michael Taft, Jack Kornfield, and Tara Brach also host weekly live meditations you may want to check out.

— TWELVE —

Resources for Happy, Peaceful, Confident Kids

Children and their happiness and development have always been dear to my heart, and there are so many great resources for helping them grow into happy, confident, peaceful people. The Wuf Shanti YouTube Channel has a lot of great videos, and its creator Adam Avin has a new book out — Stress Less: Mindfulness for Teens. GoNoodle teaches kids body awareness among other topics, The Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island from Headspace guides kids in regulating emotions, and Everyday Speech has great videos for kids who have social learning challenges.

As we head into the holiday season, I’d like to send twelve times warm wishes to you,

Rick

P.S. For a baker’s dozen, I highly highly recommend the Being Well podcast hosted by Forrest Hanson alongside a recurring mystery guest (me!). The podcast has been downloaded over 15 million times and we’ve explored topics like how to improve our relationships, deal with anxiety, heal from trauma, break old patterns, motivate ourselves, and more. I know you’ll like it!

wpadminAugust 1, 2025

0 13 4 minutes read