It occurred to me at the end of a long week last week that I was actually still happy.
You might detect a hint of surprise there, and you'd be right.
It wasn't so long ago that I'd get in to a funk which could last days, on and off, but days, none the less.
I have no idea why I let myself do that to myself, because, ultimately, we all are capable of controlling our emotions and how we feel (it just doesn't always seem that way at the time - right?).
I now realise what I was missing - I didn't have a fail-safe funk-fixer (I like this term, I think I might copyright it......).
Anyway, back to the post...
Don't get worried, this isn't some new fangled device I'm going to try and make you buy at the end of this post, it's something much more personal than that.
Would you try something for me right now? It will take approximately 30 seconds of your life but will involve concentration, imagination, and your eyes being closed...
You with me?...
Great!
Imagine the last time you were truly happy. Not happy because of someone else's actions but just happy for being happy - happy for being you.
If you've been living in someone else's emotional handbag in recent years you might have to go back a bit to find this memory, but you will find it. At some point, before work and life and commitments got in the way, you got to be happy just for being you.
Find that memory.
Want to know what mine was? (Yes, I'm that egotistical I thought you might like to know!)
It's the feeling I got the last time I really enveloped myself in my yoga practise - got lost in the moment and tuned in to my own body and nothing else.
It was pure bliss.
What did you get? It doesn't matter what it is (as long as it's not hurting anyone - no mass murderer readers please).
For some people it's playing a sport, others a hot bath or a good book, a favourite TV programme or a dance around the kitchen to your favourite song.
A smelly bath, music or sound are actually some of the best, because sounds and smells are so easy to anchor to feelings and memories. You know yourself, a favourite perfume or old song comes on and you're straight back to an old memory.
Whatever it is, identify it and make a note of it.
Next time you feel in a bit of a funk, use this funk-fixer to lift your mood - expect it to work and it will.
By doing this a few times you actually teach your brain that this thing makes you feel better, so in the future it will automatically start to work the moment you start thinking about it (aren't brains awesome?!).
Knowing what works for us is one of the key ingredients to living a fun-filled life. I often have to remind myself that life is all about perception.
I'll say that again because it's super duper important -
LIFE IS ALL ABOUT PERCEPTION.
It doesn't matter what happens or why, if you know your own brain and how you think about things, you can alter your thinking and alter your perception.
Having a funk-fixer is a simple technique from this line of thinking. Whatever's happened to put you in a funk hasn't gone a way, you've just chosen to let it float to the back of your mind and instead focus on how you know your funk-fixer will make you feel good.
That's you - controlling your brain - instead of the other way around.
You're pretty cool aren't you?
If you can do that just imagine how much other cool stuff you can do!
Feeling happy / confident / better / awesome?!
Go forth and kick ass with that feeling!