Practice Feeling Good

I find myself bombarded everyday with bad news. The radio blares out everything wrong that has happened that day and even regurgitates and reminds me of all that has happened the day before. I wonder whether anything good has ever happened. Aren't stories where people help one another, succeed against great odds, or make a contribution news worthy?

We have plenty of opportunities to practice feeling bad. There always seems to be plenty of judgement, blame, and accusations to go around. I ruminate about current events. I worry about the future. I think about the past. Lots of opportunity to feel bad.

What if I changed my mind? What would happen? What if I spent more time appreciating, affirming, and admiring what is around me? What if for a moment I chose to forget the past hurts, the future anxiety and just concentrated for a moment on just this moment.

Here are some of the benefits of practicing feeling good:

• You become more creative. Problems that seemed impossible before suddenly don't seem so big anymore. In fact, feeling good is contagious and spreads to those around you who benefit from your good humor by becoming more creative and even more productive.

• You become healthier. Worry, anxiety, and fear cause the body's stress response which is to secrete cortisol. When your body is busy creating cortisol it is getting prepared for fight or flight which means no one is taking care of the vital organs. Better to save the organism than to have a healthy heart in the jaws of a lion. Feeling good relaxes your body which then spends its energy on health and healing.

So give this a try. First thing in the morning and the last thing at night just stop for a moment from the rush and take three deep breaths appreciating something or someone. Start the day and end the day feeling good.