Translating psychological strengths into practical hope and kindness. “[Practical] hope is a perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways,” according to C.R (Rick) Snyder. Practical hope and other strengths may very well be essence of positive mental wellbeing.
Celebrating first Saturdays in December as the International Day of Strengths builds on a recent trend of spotlighting wellbeing science through recognition by the United Nations:
- 2012: Bhutan created a resolution for March 20th to be the International Day of Happiness.
- 2015: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were adopted. SDG 3 is Good Health and Wellbeing.
- 2025: A resolution by Kiribati resulted in July 12th becoming the International Day of Hope.
“[Practical] hope is a perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways,” according to C.R (Rick) Snyder. Practical hope is born through mental playfulness on the stage of the imagination.
The first Saturday in December will cycle through other days of significance as the years go by:
- December 1st: World AIDS Day
- December 2nd: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
- December 3rd: International Day of Persons With Disabilities
- December 4th: International Day Against Unilateral Coercive Measures
- December 5th: International Volunteer Day
- December 7th: Seeds of Kindness
“In a real sense, all life is interrelated. All [people] are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be…” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.