Happy Hour Isn’t a Time–It’s Place in your MIND
“Happy Hour” has a complicated history of origin, but regardless of who and how (The French or the American Navy) there was a collective awareness that at a certain time of the day between 3-7 p.m. people are at the end of their will power. The end of their blood sugar. The end of working hard. People need a boost. They need and want to get Happy.
Happy Hour is both a euphemism for what isn’t and a destination and intention to change your state, and I’m not talking zip code.
But Happy Hour doesn’t need a designated time or 3 martinis &12 beers.
Happy Hour is a place in your mind.
Your mind is full of thoughts. 60,000 thoughts a day scientists say. (Who is doing all that counting anyway?)
Thoughts trigger feelings.
So where is the well of all well being? And how can you train your brain to serve you up a shot of straight up Serotonin with a jigger of joy and a chaser of oxytocin?
One of the fastest ways to change your thoughts is to
Change your PHYSIOLOGY
- Stand up—better yet, JUMP UP! Throw your hands into the air as if you were cheering at your favorite football game or rock concert
- Put on some fast music and dance. I use both language and a beat that gets me pumping happy juice and shaking off the icky stuff.
- Laugh deeply from your abdomen. Even if you fake laughing—your body doesn’t know it. Laughter causes a mechanical change that stimulates many organs enhances oxygen uptake, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphinS that are released by your brain.
- Pet your dog or look at pictures of baby animals. These acts physically cause your body to secrete oxytocin: the feel good hormone of connection.
Change your Language~ and I don’t mean speak in tongues
“Language doesn’t describe our life – it creates it.” Tony Robbins
- Practice an UPWARD spiraling rant ( channel your inner Charlie Sheen for good)
- Starting with the truth and spin upwards.
Example: “I’m pissed I have to work late. Working late means I’ll be late to the party. Parties are fun. I like parties. I dance at parties. Dancing makes me feel good. I like feeling good. Feeling good gives me energy. Energy motivates me. When I’m motivated I can get things done. I can feel motivated right now. I can get this done and get to the party.”
“I hate my body. I have a body. My body gets me through the day. I couldn’t be alive without my body. I like being alive most of the time. My heart is working. My lungs are working. Everything is working even if I abuse it and criticize it. My body still shows up. My body must be loyal. I like loyalty. Good friends are loyal. My body must be my friend. I like friends. I might like my body if I focused on how much it did for me even when I hurt it. I like thinking that I could like my body. I like the idea of being at peace with my body even loving my body and wondering how I can help my body even more.” .
It only takes a few minutes to rant. (and you’re doing in anyway just in reverse) Punch it up. Be passionate. Let it propel you to a positive place.
Shift your FOCUS
Just like a camera lens, whatever you focus on will be the picture you make in your mind. The picture you make in your mind creates a thought and your thoughts create feelings.
Open the aperture of your lens or point the camera lens in a different direction. It doesn’t dismiss the problem that’s there; it just gives you a different perspective. You see it differently.
When you gain perspective, i.e. see something from many different angles you’re able to reframe the meaning.
Reframing=Flexibility=Freedom
When my daughter was little, everything was a negotiation and debate. By the time she was 5, I had enough training to become a hostage negotiator. On her first outing to Toys R Us where she was allowed out of the cart, she made a beeline to a box of ducks. She pulled and tugged trying to get them out.
“Zoë, you can’t take the ducks out of the box.” I said. Ignoring me,she persisted. By the third time I yelled “Stop it!” she glared at me and said, “Mother, I’m not taking the ducks out, I’m just giving them a little fresh air.”
While this was cute, there were many times her opposition led to tears, (both hers and mine) But in my thoughtful moments, I reframed her intense “opposition “ and saw it as a strong sense of self and an inner voice that would one day serve her in tough situations.
Happiness does not come from a drink, a pill, a person, an event or a thing. Happiness is a choice that comes from a place in your mind ~ any time of day.
Make Belief Affirmation: I choose my thoughts. Happy Hour is a place in my Mind.
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