There are so many posts, videos, and pieces of advice out there for coping with negativity in our world.
What about the positivity?
Think about this for a second…
What if you could increase the impact and longevity of the GOOD things in life?
Think about what an impact that would have on things in any other category.
Take just a moment and think about the last time you stopped and mentally swam around in a happy moment.
I remember everything about the moment I landed in this spot…
It’s Glacier National Park, at the end of Avalanche Trail.
That’s my little girl climbing on that rock.
The picture is beautiful, but the moment I was there in person was unforgettable.
The sound… all that water melting from the top of the mountains on that warm July day…
What about pausing to enjoy the sound of your child’s laughter?
…or that feeling you get when you blast your favorite song and dance as if no one is watching? (Which is how I dance even if you’re watching…)
When good things happen we automatically assume that it feels good and that’s that.
…but we’re wrong.
Think about it this way…
You’re in a donut shop and you’re surrounded by the smell of yummy donuts.
You take in a big deep breath so you can smell it to the fullest…
…and then you walk out.
You experienced SOME of the joy of donuts, but you didn’t have a donut.
It’s what we’re doing with our happy moments!
We’re not stopping to enjoy them… to sink our teeth into them and then taste them to their fullest.
There is one word here that encapsulates what we need to be doing.
Savor
Savoring moments helps to fully engage our minds and bring feelings to a higher peak.
That increases our awareness of what is going on and automatically boosts positive feelings.
This does several things for us – one being boosting our present and future happiness.
Savoring moments has many more benefits including stronger relationships, improved mental health, better physical health, and a more flexible and creative mind.
Here are a few ways to stop and savor your moments:
- Picture:
Of course, you can take a picture as I did of my daughter on that rock… but you can also take a mental picture.
This involves you slowing down and being completely mindful at that moment.
What will you want to remember?
What do you hear?
What do you smell?
What does this feel like?
What does this look like?
Just pausing to take a mental picture helps increase your happiness right then and there.
For those of us who also do visualization meditation, this can be a point of visualization for us going forward. - Celebrate:
Give yourself a mental pat on the back… not only for having that moment but for thinking to stop and savor it!
In our recent blog about why we should celebrate constantly, we talked bout celebrating everything from huge “wins” to simply not burning the rolls in the oven.
Celebrate everything, and especially this.
Your motto here should be the opposite of what many of us were taught during “polite” lessons as a child… “GET COMPLETELY CARRIED AWAY!” - Sense:
We touched on this a bit during point number one – mental pictures – but think about it…
You have more than a picture here.
You have all of your senses… taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing, and perception – you can run through that list and make sure you’re fully experiencing the situation!
The last time I was with my grandpa in person before he got sick and went into the hospital, my perception told me to stop and savor.
Grandpa was in great health and I was about to head home to Miami where I lived at that time and something told me just to pause…
I hugged him as though it would be my last hug with him.
I made sure that I made a mental note of what it felt like to hug him like that, what he smelled like, what it sounded like for him to say I love you while my ear was pressed up against the side of his face…
It was a beautiful moment.
…and the next time I saw him, he was sick – cancer – in the hospital.
I never was able to hug him in that way again.
What a gift it was to have gone through all of my senses to make that mental impression. It’s been 20 years since that moment, and I’m still able to feel it right now as I’m typing this to describe it to you. - Share:
When something unhappy happens, a lot of people say they need to “VENT” to make them feel better.
It doesn’t make them feel better… it makes the negativity BIGGER!
Instead of doing it with negative things, do it with POSITIVE things… because that’s what you want to make bigger!! - Gratitude:
Practice active gratitude right then and there.
Jump up and down!
Clap!
Laugh!
Close your eyes and feel gratitude.
Gratitude is part of my personal daily ritual… and always makes everything better!
There are many more ways to make happiness bigger, last longer, and be more impactful in the “now” and in the long-term… That’s the topic of our latest YouTube video so pop over there and check it out!
Be happy with us in the GILDed Life group – it’s free, and you’re invited!
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