The Best Thing

I saw a post somewhere recently about the science behind 'lucky girl syndrome', which is to say that there actually is some science behind the concept that choosing to focus on the positive every day can actually change your brain and, over time, what you experience.

I don't know about you, but never before in my life have I felt the need to change how I feel for the better. Since so very little is under our control except how we feel and how we react, I'm resolving today to keep a log of The Best Thing I see every day - ideally with photos. Ideally every day but we'll see.. setting unreasonable expectations seems like it might be directly in conflict with the intention here, so perhaps not with military rigor. I'll be noting every day privately and sharing when I can.

It probably goes without saying that I am not a brain scientist. The person whose post I saw is not even a brain scientist. But I am a human who's been alive and paying attention for more than 50 years now and it has been my observation that folk who focus on the negative tend to see more of that around them and perhaps even in some ways draw more of it into their lives than those who focus on the positive, on beauty, on the good we can do. 

The Best Thing I saw today was my dog, Freja, joyfully zooming around the farm where we live, just ecstatic to be running as fast as she could, making crazy loops around my friend and I and her old dog Lucy, who's a bit past the zoomies these days and stood protectively near her person, ready to give the younger pup a growl if her antics got too much. The sun was shining (in itself a blessing on a January day in Oregon), one of the farm cats, Grey Boy, was curled up snoozing in a warm corner of a hoop house and all sorts of flowers are already beginning to unfurl themselves and reach for the light.

I didn't think to take a photo or video then - I was too busy chatting with my friend and laughing at Freja's joy but here is one with the same vibe, from a different zoomy day.

 

 

You can see the post that got me thinking about this on IG here

What do you think? Will you have a go too? I would love to hear what your Best Thing was and if you'd like to join me in this little experiment, whether that helps change your mood and your mind over time.

 

 

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