I hadn’t been feeling very well for a couple of days. Nothing serious, just feeling a little run down.
I had gone through my morning routine, which usually starts my day off right. In fact, I usually feel when the energetic shift happens. But not that day.
As I was getting dressed I noticed out of the corner of my eye a bright yellow t-shirt that one of my daughters had given me for Christmas.
I pulled the t-shirt over my head and couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the picture of a happy little baby Buddha, grinning at me in the mirror.
As simple as it sounds, that single moment of delight, laughing at a silly picture, changed the trajectory of my day!
Routines and planned processes to restore and maintain an emotionally healthy life are great and I highly recommend them.
But, let’s not discount the power of the unexpected and simple pleasures to boost our morale and strengthen our emotional vibrancy.
I wasn’t suddenly free of the physical discomfort that I had been experiencing. And what was weighing on me emotionally hadn’t suddenly disappeared, but my ability to manage those challenges had been immediately fortified.
To the extent that while walking down the hallway later that day, my husband asked why I was so happy. I hadn’t realized I had been smiling. I told him that I had just been thinking about that silly t-shirt that I was wearing and it made me smile.
But there is something I want to add to this business of being happy.
Being happy does not just come about because of a funny or happy moment.
The key is to be conscious of the moment.
Thich Nhat Hanh said,
“The basic condition for being happy is our consciousness of being happy. If we are not aware that we are happy, we are not really happy.”
The funny moment can happen and the benefits can quickly disappear if we do not become conscious of it and with awareness continue the positive emotion.
That silly moment still makes me laugh as I remember it days later.
I encourage you to look for the silly, happy moments and grow them to lighten and brighten your day.
With love,
