Today’s Solutions: December 20, 2025

Lifestyle

Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.

Eat these foods to boost your

Eat these foods to boost your skin’s natural sun defense

When it comes to protecting your skin from the sun, diet plays a bigger role than you might think. Of course, minimizing your exposure to UV rays, a proven carcinogen, is a wise idea, especially considering that skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Yet by chomping on plants, Read More...

Deepak Chopra: This is how to

Deepak Chopra: This is how to set your intentions

Intentions have an incredible ability to shape the way we live our lives. In fact, according to ancient Indian wisdom, our destinies are ultimately shaped by our deepest intentions and desires. To better understand their role and how they are formed, Deepak Chopra makes the beautiful analogy Read More...

Pittsburgh launches ‘guarant

Pittsburgh launches ‘guaranteed income’ program with Jack Dorsey donation

Last week, we wrote about “guaranteed income” and the support it's getting from mayors across America, who formed a network called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. That group was launched by Stockton, Calif. Mayor Michael Tubbs, who launched his own guaranteed income program in 2018. But Read More...

Befriend your inner critic wit

Befriend your inner critic with this visualization exercise

Although we all have an inner critic, it is our relationship with that inner critic that can either help or hinder confidence. As Psychotherapist Bryan Robinson writes, the Critic’s job is to point out your failures. You can’t get rid of the Critic, but you can develop a relationship with it. Read More...

What you can learn from Ukeire

What you can learn from Ukeireru, the Japanese art of acceptance

Acknowledging that something took (or is taking) place can be relatively straightforward, but accepting it is another thing completely. For example, most people can (probably) agree that we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, but not everyone is accepting it to the point of being on-board with Read More...

Selection of essential oils, with herbs and flowers in the background

These 6 essential oils can soothe bug bites and help you skip the scratch

Bug bites are among the few things that can turn a summertime outing into an unappetizing experience. And though scratching provides in-the-moment relief, it only makes bites more painful in the long run and could potentially cause infection. Fortunately, some essential oils have antimicrobial and Read More...

Make this DIY drink to maintai

Make this DIY drink to maintain your electrolyte levels

Any medical or nutrition expert will tell you how important it is to stay hydrated; after all, it keeps everything in the body functioning properly. But when it comes to hydration, while water is crucial, so is maintaining electrolyte levels (like sodium and potassium). In fact, when electrolyte Read More...

Top view of yellow banana peel isolated on blue, colorful background.

Don’t throw away your banana peels. Do this instead

With bananas being such a delicious and healthy snack, it’s no wonder that people in the US eat as much as 3.2 billion pounds of these tasty treats every year. The problem, however, is that most banana peels are tossed away once the sweet fleshy part is eaten. This not only contributes to the Read More...

Take your composting to the ne

Take your composting to the next level with worm farming

Are you a composter who’s ready to step up your game? If you’re looking to give your garden and the planet even more of a boost, it’s time to start practicing vermiculture, or worm farming.  So what is a worm farm? Worm farms are contained compost spaces where a population of worms feeds Read More...

Deutsche Bank joins list of ba

Deutsche Bank joins list of banks in banning Arctic drilling

The world could use some good news about the Arctic after weeks of battling a prolonged heatwave and wildfires. Fortunately, we have some good news: Financial giant Deutsche Bank has introduced a new energy policy banning financial support of drilling in the Arctic. The move comes after years of Read More...