Have you ever experienced an almost perfect moment in your life? We’ve all felt it: those moments in time so spectacular that you wish you could experience it every second of every day. Maybe you were indescribably content devouring a delicious lobster roll off the coast of Maine in mid-summer, or found yourself lost in ecstasy during the encore of your favorite band’s set at Coachella (side note: I really miss concerts).
There may be nothing better than that glow of joy radiating from within, and in those rare instances when you find yourself feeling immeasurably content, it’s important to savor the flavor, and make the most of those fleeting instances of happiness.
And It Stoned Me to My Soul – Savoring Life’s Greatest Wonders
The act of savoring life’s experiences is essentially what it sounds like: taking the time to actively engross yourself in a wonderful moment, both during and after it occurs, to ensure you make the most of that particularly positive point in time. Savoring involves channeling your energy and focus onto those wonderfully joyous moments, and is crucial to living a satisfied life.
Given the presence of our brain’s negativity bias, we aren’t automatically tuned to feel or find happiness, so when you find yourself flooded with delight– whether you’re sitting on the couch next to your husband as you binge Breaking Bad for the fourth time, or raising your glass for a Thanksgiving toast at your Nana’s dining room table– you’ll want to milk those moments for all they’re worth.
Savoring those positive, joyful experiences can help negate some of the malaise invoked by life’s challenges, and boost your feelings of gratitude and gratefulness. Savoring has also been shown to reduce our brain’s wandering nature, reducing one’s tendency towards procrastination by improving the ability to focus.
The concept of savoring requires very little effort once you understand how to utilize it, but if you’re unsure where to start, here are six strategies– backed by research– to ensure you make the most of life’s greatest occasions.
Six Strategies to Help Savor Life’s Happiness
- Consider Yourself Lucky – You know how hard life can be; when things go well, count your blessings and enjoy them as they last. On the flip side, consider the other activities or events you could be doing at that moment instead– ones you don’t enjoy or even hate– and fully enjoy the spoils of that present joy.
- Celebrate YOU – When good things happen to you, enjoy them! Luxuriating in your joys and successes helps maximize your ability to feel pleasure, and getting lost in your happiness can increase the likelihood of that positive moment being stored in your memory.
- Save a Keepsake – While this isn’t always possible, if you can retain some sort of souvenir from a notably pleasurable experience– say, the ticket stub from an exciting baseball game from your childhood, that you attended with your late father– you’ll be able to recall that memory and its associated feelings with the physical reminder.
- Utilize Memory Building – Similarly to the powerful effect of mentally visualizing yourself succeeding before a task, taking the time to ingrain a mental picture of a savored experience can enhance your ability to recall the memory in the future.
- Remember All Things Must End – Keeping in mind the fleeting nature of life– and the fact that everything must end– can help increase the effectiveness of, and your ability to, savor an experience.
- Share the Moment with Someone – It’s not surprising that sharing your joyous moments with other people is, perhaps, the best way to enrich the experience. People who share exciting news and moments with their friends, family, or anyone else have been proven to be much happier than those who simply celebrate in the dark. In fact, simply thinking about sharing the news with another person has been shown to boost one’s satisfaction levels.
As we’ve established, life isn’t always sunshine and lollipops, so when the clouds clear and you find yourself in the throes of happiness, it’s important to exalt in those sunny days. If you can focus on those moments when they occur– in the moment, as they’re happening– you’ll find yourself one step closer to your personal promised land.
If you would like to speak with us further, on this or other topics, please call (310-962-5935) or email (info@farahantherapy.com) to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. We are available to meet virtually, or in-person at our Century City or Sherman Oaks offices.
