5 TED talks to watch when you're having a bad day
Flickr/Vinoth Chandar
You're having one of those days when nothing seems to be going right.
It seems like the world is out to get you, and now you find that you've fallen into a major emotional funk.
What can you do? Resign yourself to getting crabbier and more despondent by the second -- and thus turn your bad day into a bad week?
No way. Instead, watch one (or all!) of these inspiring, feel-good TED Talks — and prepare for your bad day to turn right around.
1. Maysoon Zayid: I Got 99 Problems ... Palsy Is Just One
On a bad day, sometimes you just desperately need some perspective. And writer, actor, and comedian Maysoon Zayid is here to give that to you.
Zayid has cerebral palsy. But she's not up on the stage to complain about it. Instead, she uses it as the basis for a hilarious and heartwarming talk about how to pick yourself up and just keep going.
Zayid may claim that she's "not inspirational." But listen to her talk and I'm sure you'll disagree.
Standout quote: "My name is Maysoon Zayid, and if I can, you can."
2. Andrew Solomon: How the Worst Moments in Our Life Make Us Who We Are
As a writer, Andrew Solomon has traveled all over the world learning of the hardships that other people face. But in his TED Talk, he also shares his own stories of overcoming adversity as a gay man.
In his moving and witty TED Talk, he provides a fitting reminder that while your bad days and your struggles may hurt, they're far from worthless -- as long as you're willing to forge meaning from them.
Standout quote: "You need to take the traumas and make them part of who you've come to be, and you need to fold the worst events of your life into a narrative of triumph, evincing a better self in response to things that hurt."
3. Kelly McGonigal: How to Make Stress Your Friend
Is an overwhelming amount of stress what's sending your day into a downward spiral? Psychologist Kelly McGonigal's TED Talk is just what you need right now.
McGonigal's fascinating talk will challenge how you perceive stress in your life.
Research indicates that stress isn't actually all that bad for you. In fact, it's the simple act of thinking that it's bad for you that makes it harmful. So McGonigal challenges the audience to flip the script and reframe the way they think about stress -- and thus turn it into a positive.
Standout quote: "And so I would say that's really the best way to make decisions, is go after what it is that creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider