The Health Benefits of Finding Small Joys

Not my dog, but isn't he a cutie?

Every morning around 6 am my husband and I start to wake up, slowly blinking our way into a new day. A few months ago I noticed that the first thing each of us did was, yuuuuup, reach for our phones. I don't even know if we said good morning to each other yet!

What was even worse is as we set the tone for the day by doom scrolling, we were not giving our full attention to the wee beastie (aka our 80lb German Shepherd) who very gently climbed in bed with us and was in full cuddle mode.

Can you imagine? CAN you imagine choosing the tomfoolery of the internet to the pure joy of the family dog?

This is when Mister and I decided to spend at least the first 10 minutes of the day enjoying the dog moment and being grateful for our life.

I've spent the last few months listening and reading about bringing more happiness into my life and one common theme is to notice the small, everyday joys. This should be obvious; I was raised that way. Somewhere, however, during the last few years I forgot this.

I've started to make a habit of taking a few seconds out of my morning to really notice just how freakin' good the coffee is. Literally, I look at my cup of java and think, 'Man, this coffee tastes great!'. It might seem silly, but I have to say, it works. It's starting to become my first aid kit. Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, I will stop and look for that one thing to be grateful for.

Of course, I'm not trying to suggest that life's big sadnesses can be cured with a nod to the good weather. But making a practice of finding joy in small things is a great way to build contentment and resilience. We begin to shift our mindset to more positivity and develop better coping mechanisms, so that we're not constantly feeling like crappy things are the only experiences we're having.

This positive mindset can go a long way to reducing our stress and to enjoying some physical benefits that go along with that.

Like anything, forming a small habit is the best way to reap the benefits. Look around you and see what can be your daily joy? The morning coffee? The cute dog? A great tune? Think of something that each day you can appreciate for even a few minutes.

Health Benefits

• Reduced Stress

• Increased Resilience

• Increased Contentment

• Better Positive Mindset

• Cultivating Gratitude

• Improved Cognitive Flexibility and Creativity