Life sometimes gets in the way of our happiness. Bad things happen to good people. It’s easy to fall apart and let it take over your life and your happiness. Some of us are even prone to unhappiness. It’s called depression. Once it hits you it’s easy to go with it, crawl into bed and feel sorry for yourself. It takes a lot of effort to pick yourself up and be happy! Let me tell you from my own experiences that it can happen. It takes constant work but a simple three-minutes-a-day practice can change your outlook and make you feel more positive! It can happen if you work at it.
You have to hardwire yourself to be happy. It takes practice, lots and lots of practice. Just like repetitive weight lifting can sculpt your muscles, repetitive positive thinking will actually make you happier. It’s true, according to the latest headlines from the front lines of brain science. A recent study shows that habits can be sculpted into the very tissues of our brains. The key to rewiring your brain for happiness is focusing on positive experiences and memories. Our brains are shaped by what we focus on. Basically that means that by taking time to remember positive experiences can deliberately create and prolong the those experiences.
It seems like our brain has a negativity bias. While we think of pleasant experiences, we tend to fully absorb negative ones. In other words, negative reactions become a habit. In one day you can experience four good things, 4 neutral things and just one thing that may have gone wrong. Guaranteed you will come home and think of that negative experience. That will be the one thing that will bother you and keep you up at night. One negative interaction is as powerful as five good ones!
Now in order to become happier, you’ve got to first have a good experience. Maybe sit in a beautiful setting and feel how positive you are just being in that beauty. You’re now activating a positive mental state. Now stay there for few minutes. If you do this a couple of times a day even for a minute it will change your thought process and your life.
Now go and sit with your happy thoughts!