Forming little, positive habits can make quite a difference. For about three months, I’ve added a new ingredient to my early morning coffee. Typically, it’s around 5:30 a.m., and I sit in my favorite stuffed chair in the living room, my hands wrapped around my warm cup.
I focus my mind on what gave me the most pleasure the day before. Typically, it’s a tiny thing: I totally clobbered Sherry in a hand of gin rummy. I remembered the words to an old Irish lullaby my mother used to sing to me. Jody Beth Beckett, the pup, waited patiently for me to come outside and play.
I lock those happy moments from yesterday in my mind before I go about my daily chores. Magically, as my day unfolds, I’m more apt to recognize new joyous happenings the second they pop up.
The next morning at 5:30, I have those memories to sweeten my cup of coffee.