Author: Editors

WE Modern Humans need love. Not only to receive, but also to give. Read the definition and learn how you can improve yourself.

Love definition
To define love: a basic emotion of deep acceptance and affection for another, a group or for one’s self. Attachment is essential, without it we won’t be able to handle life, although at the same time love makes us vulnerable. Affection can be explained quite easily, as it plays an important role in our social functioning. For example, without maternal love, the survival of a child would be much less likely: the care for offspring is therefore also found in many animal species.

Love for your family has to do with being attached and the need for protection. People are often moved by it, it is a feeling that often goes very deep.

Love refers to relationships between people. A group of people, animals, a certain activity but also objects can generate a feeling of it. Affection has to do with the choice of a partner, although this is often also culturally determined. Romantic relationships are characterized by specific behaviors and are often accompanied by certain emotions such as sexual feelings, being moved emotionally, a feeling of well-being and combinations of these.

What does that mean?
Love is a basic emotion of deep acceptance and affection. it makes us happy and gives a feeling of perfection and warm affection.

Imagine
A world in which everyone has the opportunity to feel Warmth, where people are full of it for each other.

How can you improve yourself?
If you feel Caring for something or someone, spend as much time together as possible. It is better to see someone face to face than to use digital communication. Communicate openly with each other, communication influences relationships.

If you want to experience more Warmth, increase your social contacts. Find a socially richer environment and be attentive to others.

We Modern Humans

WE Modern Humans need hope. Hope makes life, it is essential for humans. Hope gives people a grip and it increases motivation in times of uncertainty. It also helps getting out of undesirable situations.

Hope definition
To define hope: Hope is the uncertain and sometimes unrealistic expectation that a certain desired event will happen.

There are two opposites of hope:
• Despair if the probability of the desired event seems to have passed, or fear if the (uncertain) expectation concerns an undesirable event.
• False hope if the expectation is entirely based on fantasy or on an event with a negligible chance of becoming reality.

Hopeless
When you are hopeless, it feels like powerlessness and this is disheartening. Your emotional state changes and the hopelessness can even lead to depression. A hopelessly romantic person is a person who has romantic notions. He or she can also be described as a dreamer, idealists or sentimentalist.

Hope can be passive, like a wish, but hope can also be active. In the latter case, the chance of the desired event to actually take place is increased by personal efforts. The basis of hope is that you want something, but you have little to no influence yourself. If you hope for something and then this fails to come true, disappointment arises.

What does that mean?
Hope is something that everyone has, to a greater or lesser extent. It indicates that someone cannot fully control his circumstances.

Imagine
A world where everyone’s hope is realistic. Outcomes will improve and disappointments do not hit so hard.

How can you improve yourself?
Having hope is not a bad thing, as long as you stay realistic. Avoid false hope, false hope is not realistic. If your hope does not become reality, you will have to accept that. In certain situations, hope can offer a way out and increase motivation and determine direction in one’s life.

WE Modern Humans feel the need to be happy, to have hopes and things to look forward to. This can make us feel happy. But also being together or attending a party can make us happy. An achieved goal can also contribute to our happiness.

Happiness definition
To define happiness: being happy is a state of mind that you experience. The feeling of Pleasure often originates from the absence of frustration, depression, feeling overworked, anger or sadness.

The moment you experience happiness, you usually live in the ‘now’. Pleasure is being satisfied with current living conditions. This can spark various positive emotions, such as joy, peacefulness, relaxation and cheerfulness.

What does that mean?
Nothing is as nice as experiencing happiness without the distraction of unpleasant feelings.

Imagine
A world where everybody shares the feeling of being joyful and happy.

How can you improve yourself?
Movement and happiness are connected with each other. A simple walk can make all the difference in how you feel. That the body has an influence on your state of mind and therefore also in experiencing Joy, we also see in the use of power pose: Amy Cuddy (Harvard Business School), Dana Carney and Andy Yap (Columbia University) have conducted an experiment on the extent to which body language influences a person’s feelings, behavior and hormone level. They claim that adopting certain body postures makes us immediately happier and more alert. Physically it is sufficient to positively change the chemistry of your brain by means of a power pose.

We Modern Humans

WE Modern Humans have empathy towards each other. Compassion is a good basis for healthy relationships. The word empathy is derived from the Greek word ἐμπάθεια (empatheia), in other words, sympathy.

Empathy definition
To define empathy: Having Compassion is the ability to sympathize with the situation and feelings of others.

Empathy deals with the degree to which someone can relate to his own emotions, to recognize these emotions in himself and in others. Also if someone can express these emotions and act upon these emotions, plays a role. People who are sufficiently emphatic know themselves on the emotional level and can level emotionally with others, as they are aware of themselves and of others so they can make friends.

Being able to imagine oneself in somebody else’s situation and being able to understand the emotions of others, contributes to the communication with fellow humans. Without empathy, conversations might be based on misunderstandings or there can arise differences of opinion. Compassion helps to understand verbal and non-verbal messages from others.

If someone is less empathic, it doesn’t necessary mean that this person doesn’t try to feel someone else’s emotions, because this is something every human does. For a less empathic person it is more difficult to sense someone else’s emotions and understand what’s going on in the other person’s head. This might result in misinterpretation of the other person’s feelings, as the less empathic person makes assumptions based on his own feelings.

What does that mean?
Empathy means that someone can connect oneself to the situation and feelings of another. This does not necessarily mean that someone shares or agrees with the feelings of this other person.

Imagine
A world where everyone can imagine oneself in the situation of another.

How can you improve yourself?
Every person has empathy, but it is a quality that you can keep on developing. Know that you are not alone in the world. Take a good look at the people around you and ask yourself what is going on inside these people and then act upon this.

We Modern Humans

WE Modern Humans need compassion. We can relate to and empathize with the situation of others, but we also expect others to relate and empathise with us. It’s nice to have the feeling that others understand what is going with you, but it is also fulfilling to support another in his situation. As you can read, compassion is a two-way emotion, a need that is given and received back and forth.

Compassion definition
To define compassion: compassion is offering others understanding, support and kindness when they make mistakes or experience a setback.

If you do not realize it when someone is having a hard time, you do not feel compassion. Thus, you first need to be touched by the suffering of someone else before you respond to his pain. As soon as you respond, you feel warmth, affection and the need to help or support the other.

You can also feel compassion towards yourself. You look at yourself in the same way as you would at another when you experience a difficult time, when you fail or when there is something that you do not like about yourself.

What does that mean?
It’s nice when others understand what is going on with you, but also to support someone if his situation asks for it.

Imagine
A world where everyone can imagine oneself in the situation of another and offer support and understanding when needed.

How can you improve yourself?
Compassion towards others: once you show compassion to someone, stay patient. Sometimes this can be difficult, as certain situations can go on for a long time.

Compassion towards yourself: the important thing here is to accept yourself the way you are. For example, say to yourself “if I fail or if something does not suit me, the first step is to accept that I’m having a hard time”. Ask yourself how you can comfort yourself and how to take care of yourself in this situation. Instead of ruthlessly judging and criticizing yourself, comprehend your own mistakes and flaws.

Of course you can try to change yourself to become happier [link] and healthier [link], but you will do that because you care about yourself; not because you think you are worthless and unacceptable.

WE Modern Humans need each other for support. Supporting each other works both ways: offering support, giving help and receiving it.

Support definition
To define support: To help others by offering backup. Support can be given in various areas and will help the other person in continuing or moving along with what he needs help with.

There are several kinds of support:
• Social support
Receiving and providing support through the social network. ‘I have been supported, with a little help from my friends’ is an expression you often come across. The people we can count on for support if we need this, are important in difficult or problematic situations. The support is often offered by an unexpected source.
• Emotional support
Emotional support is about letting know that you care about the other. Giving warmth and letting know that you are there and value the other, will boost this person’s self-confidence. You offer empathy, involvement, affection, love, trust, acceptance and encouragement.
• Tangible support
Tangible support is providing financial support, material goods or services. The other person is helped in a direct and concrete way.
• Informative support
This kind of support is about providing advice, guidance, suggestions or other useful information. The content of the information will help others to solve problems.
• Support groups
Support groups give someone the feeling that they belong somewhere or that they are part of a group. This is, for example, when participating in shared social activities where you can count on mutual support.

What does that mean?
As soon as you are stuck, support from others will get you the tools, insights and facilitations to make something that seemed impossible, possible.

Imagine
A world where everyone supports and facilitates each other. The world will become a lot more bearable for everyone.

How can you improve yourself?
Be aware that you cannot do everything yourself. Look at the possibilities to receive support. Support works both ways, so also provide support to others.

As soon as someone gets stuck, you can offer him help to get things done easier. Also providing available tools, insights and facilities help to make things possible.

To receive support also has to do with the subjective expectation of the recipient. The received support relates more to the specific supportive actions undertaken by the others. Another form is support groups such as friends, colleagues and family members. Functional support groups can consist, for example, of friends, colleagues and like-minded people.