You get to pick your responses to what goes on around you, to the weather, to news from your family, to how poorly your waiter delivered upon your order. You don't HAVE to hate blustry, rainy days, after all!
I like to find people who enjoy things I don't like. The kid who enjoys that blustry, rainy day is on to something! She has no more control over the weather than I do, but instead of resigning herself to misery and complaining about the cold, she's actively celebrating it. Which would you rather do?
Here's an experiment for you. Don't worry, it'll take less than a minute, so you can do it right now. There's three parts:
- Neutral. Close your eyes. For one breath check out the feelings in your torso, for another breath check out your face. Fine.
- Miserable. Now make the most unhappy, pissy expression you can! Woo! Maybe try anger, or rage, or just whatever your favorite rap artist is inspiring today. Hold it, and using the next two breaths check out how your torso and your face feel. You may notice a tightening in the belly, or a shift in your chest.
- Happy. Put a big ol' genuine smile on your face. The kind that makes the corners of your eyes crinkle. Smile like you mean it. Ok, now check out how your torso and face feel.
Not very original of me, I know. Ha! But when you get to control your own reactions to things, wouldn't you want to practice picking the fun one, train yourself to go for the one that makes you feel good?
We get almost no control over the world outside of our bodies, so that's not a good source of happy feelings. Let's take advantage of what we do get to adjust, and stop looking for reasons why we should be miserable.
Hooray!
