One thing I’ve learned about our brains (a topic endlessly fascinating to me!) is this:
our mind places more emphasis on unhappy moments, on negative things, than positive.
It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself an optimist (I do) or not. The data is in. Many, many studies and decades of research into how our minds work have led to this conclusion.
So how do you beat that… the tendency we have towards the negative?
I read a neat tip on a happiness research blog the other day that I’ve been trying to remember to practice. It goes like this:
“When something wonderful is happening, put your hand on your heart and say to yourself. This is happiness. This is joy. Then stay with the physical feelings of that for a minute or two. Really let it sink in.
Once you start really acknowledging these moments of happiness, your brain will go there again more easily.”
Go here to read the rest of the post.
Of course, doing things like writing in a gratitude journal also help, but you might not always have it handy. I think it would also be effective to offer up a quick thanksgiving prayer.
What do you do to make happy moments “stick” in your memory more?
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