Happy New Years Bearcats! 
The New Year is a great time to reflect and look forward, it's also a great time to practice awareness in a way that's positive for you! This quote by Michael Josephson is encouraging us to look for opportunities in each day-- a GREAT way to practice awareness and reframe our mindset to look for the positive! 

Week of Opportunities Challenge!

Here's a fun challenge to start this weekend, and maybe you can let us know if you decide to try it (or don't, if you'd rather keep it personal to you)! Write it down in a notebook or type it into your phone, or download/print this worksheet to keep track of what you observe! 

• Saturday: Notice one thing that feels like a "New Beginning," or you can create for yourself, no matter how small! 
• Sunday: Look for an opportunity inside something inconvenient, boring, or frustrating. - Bored at home? Maybe it's a good time for you to pick up that puzzle you've been stashing away! A friend running later to Brunch? Maybe you can start your shopping list for the week!
• Monday: Everyone you have an interaction with is a new opportunity! You can create a new connection, learn something new, understand a different perspective! - Try to have one intentional interaction today, different from any typical transactional workplace interactions! 
• Tuesday: Notice something that's uncomfortable or challenging you today. Take the time to ask yourself "What skill, strength, or mindset is growing through this situation?". It's growth in progress! 
• Wednesday: Celebrate a small win today! Create an opportunity to celebrate something! You're midway through the week, what have you accomplish so far? It can be from work, it can be a personal win, heck, it can even be that you've taken the time a few days this week to try out this challenge!
• Thursday: See the opportunities to be grateful and express appreciation. What are three things that you're grateful for TODAY, specifically? For each of those, why are you grateful for those things? Did a meeting get cancelled, and you're appreciating having back that hour to decompress? Did the office down the hall order catering and have some delicious pumpkin bread left from their meeting, so you're able to enjoy a nice mid-day snack? Gratitude can bring moments of joy, so seeking out those opportunities will bring more joy to your life!
• Friday: Look for the opportunities from this challenge. What challenge resonated most for you? Which of these brought more light to your week than others? See the opportunity in continuing this practice! 

Seeing the Opportunity in Challenging times:

Maybe the New Year hasn't been so kind to you, maybe each time someone says "Happy New Year" it stings a little bit with bitterness of the challenges you been dealing with. 
It's okay if you're not feeling very optimistic about the new year, or are frustrated with the overt displays of positivity, there's seasons and reasons for it all! 
If and when you're ready to see the opportunity in challenging times, I encourage you to keep reading....

The following content is summarized from an article that was written by Dr. Jason Linder, and reviewed by Dr. Monica Vilhauer, shared on Psychology Today. (Click here to open the article)

1. Embrace Resilience: Resilience is the ability to bounce back from a challenge, and people often grow stronger because of them. It doesn't make hard experiences easy, but it does build your inner strength to prepare you better for the next challenge you'll face. When difficulties arise, lean into your resilience - the things that have made you strong enough to give you reassurance that you will make it through this time too. 
   When you acknowledge this strength, you don't just learn to survive adversity, but to adapt and thrive. 
2. Reflect and Self-Examine: To learn from adversity, you need the self-reflection. It's tough, in the moment, to stop and ask yourself "What led to this? What can I learn? How  can I grow?" and if it's not hard to ask, it certainly is hard to answer objectively and honestly. It is important, though. When we reflect, we make use of the opportunity togain insight and wisdom, it helps us to find meaning and understanding in difficult, even painful, moments. Reflection also allows us to own any mistakes that are ours to own, and learn from them, so we can make better choices and grow. 
3. Build Empathy: Challening situations can help us better understand the suffering and pain of others. Our hardships become a blueprint for the development of empathy and compassion for those that face similar struggles - we won't completely know what the other person is going through, but we can understand how they may be feeling. In this way, pain is an opportunity to connect with others on a deeper level. 
4. Develop Problem Solving Skills: Challenges push us to think critically, look for, and find solutions we might not have considered before. Challenging moments can help us develop problem solving skills, encourage us to think outside our usual thought patterns, seek new perspectives, and guide future decision making. This is an opportunity to build confidence and competence to take on new challenges in the future.
5. Reevaluate Priorities: Harship can reshape our priorities, and help us to see what truly matters, or what priorities may have been slipping from our attention. Life's challenges can encourage us to reevaluate our values, goals, and ambitions, maybe revealing that the life we've been living wasn't fully aligned with who are are. That's okay, there's time to reevaluate, and realign! 
6. Appreciate the Ups and Downs: Life is about contrast. The writer states, "There is no dark without light, and there is no hot without cold". Without the challenging times our moments of joy, success, and achievement would not be felt the same way. 

For your dose of PAWsitivity, we've got some of our favorite furry pals here, dressed and posed for festive and cozy vibes! We hope these cuties brought you some Pawsitivity!  Have a furry friend you want to show off to the world (of Binghamton University)? Fill out our Pawsitivity Survey!     Workday says “I’m done” New year plans tap my shoulder “Ready when you are”  Wishing you warmth and opportunities abound!  ~ Employee Assistance Program