Do you know the type I mean? When it feels like your heart will burst.
Those times used to happen occasionally, maybe a couple of times a year. And now they’re a lot more frequent – more like each day. So what’s changed?
Well, it could be for a whole variety of reasons, from being more consistent with my Healthy LifeStyle habits like drinking water regularly, and getting my biochemistry in balance – to saying ‘no’ to those things I used to feel I ‘should’ do.
Do you want to know what’s made the biggest difference for me though? Something so basic, natural and straight forward, that it can be easy not to do…and just as easy to do; when we make the decision.
Appreciating things.
What sort of things? And how?
I remember the day that this new Healthy Thinking habit began. It was a rainy morning in September 2001 and spring was definitely in the air. I’d just arrived at my Integrative Health Centre, and was having my 10 minutes with my Practice Manager to preview the day ahead, before my first patient arrived.
My Practice Manager asked me how I was and I explained that I’d just seen a miracle on my way to the office. He nearly fell off his chair! You see, as I was driving along, I caught a glimpse of the most vivid double-rainbow over one of the islands in the bay below me, and it took my breath away.
In that moment I realized that what I was seeing was the result of exactly the right meteorological conditions – in the right time, and in the right place – and I’d happened to be looking in the right direction to catch them before they faded.
When I first shared my experience, my Practice Manager didn’t see what I was so amped about. Although once I explained how it takes conditions to be just right to see such beautiful colours – and once I’d asked him how he feels when he sees a rainbow, his perspective changed. He left my office looking thoughtful. From then on our morning briefings usually featured each of us sharing something we’d relished about the day already.
Take away –Take a look around you now – what can do you see that occurs naturally? Something that’s ‘natural’ – like a plant, or maybe it’s your family cat. Think of one way that your life’s better because this object, animal or person is in your life.
When we practice focusing on what’s good in our lives, we gain momentum.
And this is where the fire-works-in-your-heart-feelings can come from – whenever you feel like it.