Happy #110: Small Changes Ripple Outward

You know the furrowed brow look? The one that says intense focus or worried or STRESSED? The one you find on the face of most people trying to read something on their phone? You know the look, right? The one that drives many middle aged women to botox??

Well, I've been waking up with it for awhile. It may be because I can't see very well in the morning and need glasses. Everything is a constant blur... Or that my eyes are dry. Or that I'm anxious about the day. But whatever it is, it's not doing anything for my youthful good looks. ;-)

I asked my Dr. about waking up stressed with this furrowed brow and what to do about it. His answer was simple.

"You've just gotten into a bad habit of thinking stressful things when you wake up. That's all. So break the habit."

In essence, change your mind. That's it.

So I began practicing changing my mind when I wake up, knowing what I do about the power of thought to change how we feel.

And you know what? It worked.

If you've been following this blog from the beginning you know that I have five basic principles of happiness. Last week I found a video about the scientific revolution in positive psychology. I love it. And I highly, highly recommend you watch it. Because it's fabulous.

What I love the most about the scientific research that is beginning to back the power of the positive mind, is the real change that comes with it.

Shawn Achor says, "Your brain at positive performs significantly better than it does at negative, neutral, or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy level rises. We found every single outcome improves. Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than at negative, neutral, or stressed...Dopamine floods into your system when you're positive, with two functions. #1. It makes you happier. And #2. It turns on all the learning centers in your brain, allowing you to adapt to the world in a different way."

He goes on to describe the process in helping people re-wire their brains. The concept is to do the exercises for 21 days, creating a new habit. You know, change your mind. :-) He said the test subject's brains began to retain a pattern of scanning the world for the positive first. The daily exercise is this:

Gratitude (3 new things you've never been grateful for before), journaling one positive experience of the day, exercise, meditation, and writing positive/loving/encouraging things to one person daily. The results were outstanding.

So Happy #110 is a reminder that small changes ripple outward. What we think impacts how we feel and how we feel impacts everything.

Try the experiment. Change your mind to the positive and practice being in the feeling of gratitude.

It's the beginning of and benchmark to bliss.