Savor good moments.

“Savor good moments” means have good moments and internalize them to make them part of you.  When you recognize joy, talk to yourself about it.  Feel it.  Express the wonder of the moment.  Express your gratitude for it.  Store it up inside of you.  Save it to offset the mundane times, the terrible times, the generally out-of-kilter times we all go through.  Doing this will help you be aware, whatever the times bring, of the joy you have within your reach.  When you savor good moments, you’ll have a buffer against bad times, and a generally more self-aware, positive outlook all the time.

To internalize a good moment – whether that represents a glance, a nod, holding your new puppy or newborn child, a walk down the aisle (to be recognized, to receive a diploma, to wed), an hour, a day, week or month – you have to have the experience and recognize it for what it is: a joyful moment.  To internalize that moment, let it wash through you so you are intensely aware of it.  Feel it fill you up.

Expressing your gratitude for these moments starts with self-expression.  Tell yourself how lucky you feel; how honored, how humbled, how awed, how energized the moment makes you feel.  Express that gratitude to others if it is appropriate.  Tell them how their role in the moment was a positive one.  Thank the Lord and/or the Universe for sharing the opportunity to realize that moment.

Store it up by letting it pass through you and fill you so thoroughly that you and the moment become one, and you know you are part of that moment and that moment is part of you.  When you make a practice of savoring and saving good moments, you’ll have a good foundation for weathering the storm of bad moments; the loss of a loved one, a job, a home, a relationship – losses are more bearable when you’ve a ready store of good moments that are part of you.

This has long been my philosophy, starting in my childhood.  This philosophy didn’t eliminate the misery of bad moments.  My store of good moments – my store of good – helps me remain positive, optimistic, and appreciative of simple, everyday moments and relationships. My store of good helped me weather the despair of the storms of life.  My store of good makes me ready to experience and savor more good moments.

I was reminded of this philosophy when I saw this TED Talk yesterday:

Hardwiring happiness: Dr. Rick Hanson

I was browsing TED Talks (one of my best Media Junkie habits) and found this one.
From the YouTube page:
Hardwiring Happiness : The Hidden Power of Everyday Experiences on the Modern Brain.  How to overcome the Brain’s Negativity Bias. Rick Hanson is a neuropsychologist and the author of Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence, best selling author of Buddha’s Brain, founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom and an Affiliate of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he’s been an invited speaker at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide.

Your comments are welcome.  So are your suggestions and questions.