“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 CSB
Did you know we, as humans, have “negativity bias.” Our brains are hardwired to remember the negative, letting the positive roll off. This is called Velcro vs. Teflon thinking. Velcro, negativity, sticks to us; Teflon, positivity, rolls off of us. For instance, if you have a negative experience with someone, it will take five positive experiences to overcome it and let it go (Hansen, 2018).
Realistically, life isn’t all one or the other. Your day isn’t all one or the other, good or bad. It’s a blend of both. The problem is, the negative events stick to us and the positive ones roll off of us. In order to focus on the positive, we have to be intentional about capturing it. In a typical day you could very well have more positive things happen than negative. Just for argument, say everything went right in your day today, except for that one thing. That one email, text, phone call or conversation that was bad. At the end of the day, what do you think about? All the good that happened or that one bad thing? Typically, we focus on the bad because that is what our brain is hardwired to do. We have to train our brain to focus on the good. And we can. Here’s three tips Dr. Rick Hansen in his article, “Take in the Good” suggests:
Turn good facts into good experiences. Recognize when something good is happening and be intentional about focusing on it, enjoying it and experiencing it fully. If you are having a delicious cup of coffee make it an experience. Savor its taste, let it roll around in your mouth for a moment, enjoy the aroma while sitting in a comfy chair that you love. Turn the fact of a good cup of coffee into a good experience by relishing it.
Really enjoy the experience. In order to truly “seas the day” you have to be intentional with time. If you take 20-30 seconds of intentionally focusing and enjoying the moment, you are creating a positive experience that has velcro on it. A positive experience that will stick. Because we let positive experiences roll off of us so easily, we don’t savor them as we should. The more we learn to focus and savor the good, the more it will stick with us at the end of the day.
Expect the good experience to sink into you. Let it fill you completely. Choose to focus on the good, not the bad. Search for it on those days that are more bad than good. You will find it, there is always some good, somewhere if you look hard enough to find it. When you do, focus on it and let it sink into your entire being. Like the first sip of coffee in the morning, enjoy it in its full glory. Don’t rush it, give it time to stick.
Today is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it. Right there is a good fact you can turn into a good experience. Look for it, savor it, enjoy it. Seas the Day!
