5 - 3 - 1

    "5-3-1" That's the secret to being happy.  That's how you take a foul mood and a bad attitude and change it for the better.  I heard it talked about on the radio the other day and it sounded a bit hokey to be honest.  I was wrong.  This isn't even a tool you have to employ more than once to feel a difference!  The next time you're feeling crummy, negative, or like throwing a pity party for whatever you believe is not going right in your life, give it a try. 
   5:  Take five minutes for yourself.  Do some controlled, deep breathing, take a quick mini-vacation in your brain, try a brief guided imagery session.....whatever!  As long as it breaks your over-active thinking (or sulking) pattern.  Abandon everything that is upsetting you or dragging you down and just relax.  Focus on the air in your lungs, the sun in the sky, the music on the radio, or the most beautiful place on earth that you keep stashed away in the back of your head for moments such as these.

   3:  Identify and either verbalize or write down three GOOD things in your life right now.  Three things you are thankful for in this very moment.  There are days when this is more difficult than others, but there are ALWAYS three things to be thankful for.  Is the weather nice?  Do you have gas in your car?  Shoes on your feet?  A steady paycheck?  A dog who's happy to see you?  Anything, so long as it's positive and focused on real gratitude.

   1:   This is the one that caught me off guard, this is the one I questioned.  Do one thing for someone else.  It doesn't have to be something big; compliment someone, hold a door, pay for the coffee of the next guy in line, SMILE at someone.....be creative!  After you've completed your good deed, pray for that person.  Thank God that you have the ability to bring joy to another and ask Him to be with that person through whatever he/she is dealing with today.  You don't have to know details to pray for someone else.  Here's a link to another blog post about praying for strangers that I just love: http://biblelovenotes.blogspot.com/2013/10/Path-Prayer.html

   I have had this improve my mood every time I've tried it.  I started today in a good mood because I went ahead and did these things before I had a chance to feel badly.  I woke up, and took 5 minutes to meditate and pray, then I wrote in my joy journal.....I came up with significantly more than 3 things I'm grateful for, but it's a minimum guideline and I've challenged myself to see how long it takes me to come up with 1,000 things I'm thankful for. On my way into Wawa, for my coffee, I held the door for a little girl and her grandmother, the girl looked up and just beamed!  See? not a big deal!  And, my day became much brighter. 

   There are actual research studies showing that if a person focuses on 3 things he/she is thankful for or happy about 2 hours or less before going to bed it completely changes the brain's patterns.  This little trick isn't as instantaneous as "5-3-1", they say you have to do it consistently for 30 days, but that it has the same effect as an anti-depressant.  Can't hurt to try it right?? I've already made it (mostly) a habit, I am by nature, a fairly negative person and I can attest to the fact that I am much less so now than ever before in my life.  Something as simple as gratitude can truly change everything if  you just let it!

                                                                                                        Keep Smiling, and God Bless!