Health

Your inner pessimist has a powerful imagination, here’s how to fight back

A little optimism, backed by science.

Your brain is a remarkably talented disaster screenwriter. Give it one unanswered text, one awkward conversation, or one suspicious noise from the car, and it'll happily produce a feature-length catastrophe starring you. No ticket required.

But what if you could put that imagination to better use? Researchers at York St John University have studied a simple psychological exercise that asks people to redirect all that mental horsepower toward a different kind of future. And there's evidence it can improve mood, ease anxiety, and help people feel better about themselves.

As Erik Barnes reports, psychiatrist Dr. Simon Faynboym says the technique can help interrupt the cycle of negative thinking that keeps people worrying about things that haven't even happened. It takes about 15 minutes, requires no special equipment, and doesn't involve pretending your problems don't exist. It isn't a cure or a substitute for treatment, but it's an intriguing little addition to the mental health toolbox.

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Build our perfect Halloween: The movie

Four days, four decisions. You choose the movie, candy, costume, and evening. On Friday, we’ll reveal the Halloween we’ve built together.

Last Week’s Results

In Friday’s issue, we shared how friendships grow through ordinary moments.

And we asked: Which activity sounds like the best way to make a new friend? 56.2% of you chose volunteering together. Do some good, find your people.

• A regular class or club (20.3%)

• Volunteering together (56.2%)

• A neighborhood get-together (8.7%)

• Getting introduced by a mutual friend (14.9%)

GOOD reader Kelbel4762 knows the mysterious power of volunteering. “I don’t know why volunteering promotes close relationships but it does!”

Nostalgia | Courtesy of Upworthy

Exploration

Ten quiet signs you might be a genius and never realized it

I mean, I already know you’re a genius. You’re here, but still…

Somewhere between admitting you don't have all the answers and losing an afternoon to blissful, productive nothing, you might be racking up genius points without knowing it. As Mark Wales explains, the tells psychologists flag aren't about crunching numbers. They're the softer stuff: asking better questions than you answer, spotting patterns other people miss, and actually listening instead of waiting for your turn to talk.

Then there's the one nobody expects: a good sense of humor is a legitimate cognitive flex. Add quiet reflection, an openness to changing your mind, and a comfort with saying "I don't know," and you've got a portrait of intelligence that has nothing to do with report cards. If you've ever wondered whether your quirks say something deeper, the science suggests they might.

The full list runs ten deep, and there's a good chance you'll spot yourself in more of them than you might expect.

On this day in 1825, the Erie Canal opened, giving Governor DeWitt Clinton an exceptionally long “I told you so.” (It also inspired the song I enjoyed singing least in my freshman choir class.) Critics had mocked the project as “Clinton’s Folly,” but eight years of construction produced a 363-mile waterway linking Lake Erie to the Hudson River and, through it, the Atlantic.

Just 40 feet wide and four feet deep, the canal gave farmers and manufacturers a practical route to distant markets, helped cities flourish along its banks, and propelled New York City toward becoming the country’s busiest port.

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