Focus
The existential optimism that has me humming "life's what you make it" as the theme tune for my everyday, has suffered a crisis of confidence this year. This Happy 200th Ride!!! note and a celebratory pair of socks delighted and reminded me that taking time to celebrate (wins, firsts, lasts, and all the milestone achievements in between) gets you a surge of feel good chemicals and makes everything seem more positive. Like exercise, celebrating releases endorphins and reinforces the behaviors that drove the noteworthy achievement. Celebrating promotes the positive and disrupts the monotony that feeds the mindless grind. Celebrate now, celebrate every chance you get.
Well said
"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." Oprah Winfrey
Fact
Focusing on a good experience for 20 seconds is long enough to create positive structural changes in the brain. Optimum Health Institute
Spotlight on Green Tea
There is the ceremony and there is the tea. In Japan, preparing and drinking green tea is ritualized to an art form. The ceremony is designed to promote harmony and tranquility within and amongst the tea drinkers. It is a mindful celebration of the moment, enhanced by the physical benefits imbued by nutrient rich green tea Beyond being simply a comforting hot beverage, green tea is regenerating at the cellular level, promoting a healthy response to inflammation and protecting DNA from oxidative stress. It also contains an amino acid - L-theanine - which is very calming, reducing anxiety and supporting healthy stress levels.
Practice This
At the end of the day, write down 3 things (big or small) that happened and are worth celebrating. Then spend 5-10 minutes thinking about why these things are cause for celebration. This practice - called Three Good Things and developed by Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania - helps you appreciate the positive events/moments in your day. It has been shown to increase general levels of happiness by focusing on the good things happening to us and around us, and countering our innate bias towards negativity . With 2020 being the year of Doomscrolling (v. the act of consuming an endless procession of negative online news), we could all benefit from this powerful antidote.
Recipe
A friend recommended this great vegan lasagne - https://cookieandkate.com/best-vegan-lasagna-recipe/ - and it is worth a week of celebrations. What a find! Of course, I left out the oil, but I can't imagine it made a lot of difference. It could not have been more delicious.
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