Look for joy in the commonplace. 

Opportunities for celebrating the good surround you.

The ability to find the positive, and celebrate it, is universally available.

Look for joy in the commonplace. Seek it in whatever activity you are currently engaged in. Maybe it’s walking in your neighborhood, taking a commuter train to work, noticing the lingering taste of your morning coffee or tea, or even experiencing the absence of pain in your body—an awareness that almost no one acknowledges. Yes, there is much that is wrong in the world, but teaching your attention to find its opposite whenever you catch yourself dwelling on a downer can make your life better.

It’s easy to focus on what’s wrong, out of place, imperfect, or lacking. In fact, it seems to be hard wired in us, stemming back to humans’ earliest experiences with survival. Over the eons, we’ve become experts in keeping an eye out for what could go wrong, or recalling what did go wrong as a way of avoiding catastrophe. This was an adaptive skill for our cave dwelling ancestors. Those who could anticipate the worst tended to survive better than the optimists who couldn’t. Our tendency to see danger lurking still has some usefulness today. But our concern for what’s negative can easily block what’s right, good, and pleasant.

Keeping positive thoughts and emotions in mind is a challenge well worth the effort. But it won’t happen........

© Psychology Today