Today’s Solutions: December 17, 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.

You must see this powerful ima

You must see this powerful image of black med students at a former plantation

"I don't think as a kid I ever saw a minority physician.” These are the words of Russel J. Ledet, a second-year medical student at Tulane University School of Medicine. Ledet is an African American, and like many of his peers, he grew up in a community where he rarely saw black people in Read More...

How to beat burnout before the

How to beat burnout before the New Year begins

New Year’s resolutions are supposed to give you a motivation boost as you enter the new year, but these extra goals can easily start to feel like just another obligation on top of your already busy days—inadvertently causing more stress. While there’s nothing wrong with having a goal for the Read More...

Charisma is good, but what you

Charisma is good, but what your public speaking really needs is ‘presence’

Charisma is what we usually attribute to certain actors or politicians, who seem able to magnetize us from simply speaking. A charismatic person seems to intuitively draw people to like them - but there is a catch to this. After all, you have to remind yourself that your task as a speaker is to get Read More...

OPTIMIST VIEW: Circles of Comp

OPTIMIST VIEW: Circles of Compassion, an exclusive look at The Way of the Rose

“We as a species have got to learn how to surrender to the miraculous and the magical.” - Perdita Finn INTERVIEW By Kristy Jansen I was raised by parents who had rejected their childhood faiths long before I was born, so I never did receive much in the way of religious education.  If Read More...

How to make this year’s holi

How to make this year’s holiday gifts more environmentally conscious

With all the wholesomeness and magic it brings, the holiday season is also putting significant strain on the environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, American household waste increases 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – equating to 1 million tons each Read More...

Feeling anxiety at work? These

Feeling anxiety at work? These 3 tips will help you cope

If you have ever experienced anxiety in the workplace, you are not alone. According to a recent survey by entrepreneurship platform ZenBusiness, close to 50 percent of workers say they feel anxious because of their jobs. Should you be one of those people who feel their work is making them more Read More...

How to maintain friendships wh

How to maintain friendships when you’re awfully busy

When work or life, in general, have you bogged down, it can feel really difficult to find time to hang out with your friends. But that doesn’t mean you should let your friendships fall to the wayside. Even if you’re busy, there are ways to preserve your friendships so that you can enjoy them Read More...

Tackling the gender wage gap i

Tackling the gender wage gap in the gig economy

The global economy is changing. Last week we ran a story about making the most of your job in the gig economy, but how does the rapidly growing gig economy pan out for women? Unfortunately, while the national wage gap hovers around $10,000 per year, a recent analysis found the average female Read More...

OPTIMIST VIEW: An Emissary Con

OPTIMIST VIEW: An Emissary Conversation – Understanding what matters to our community

By The Optimist Daily Team “Ideas of every kind are constantly galloping toward us, constantly pass through us, constantly trying to get our attention.” - Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic In today’s Optimist Emissary conversation we covered the top four stories from the last month, Read More...

Why you should teach your kids

Why you should teach your kids to cook this holiday season

Whether you find cooking to be a beautiful art or a messy ordeal, you have every reason to teach your kids how to cook if you’re a parent. With the holidays coming and kids getting time off from school, now is the perfect time to teach your little one(s) how to be a chef. It’s been said that Read More...