Some of my articles lately have leaned toward the heavy side. So I decided I would focus on a more upbeat topic. Maybe even have a little fun.
I was on a social media site, going through my page and “liking” some of the posts that I saw. And it made me think about how social media has trained us to instantly click on the like button whenever we agree with or learned from or are entertained by something we see. If you are like me, you probably also use the like button to show your support for a friend’s post.
That led to another thought. What if we could train ourselves to do more “liking” in our own daily life? I mean outside of the social media sites we spend so much time on. In other words, what if we trained ourselves to take a moment to “like” the good things that come our way during the average day? What a great way of reminding ourselves of the simple joys of life!
And what if we also took a moment to like to like something about other people, and brought a little more joy into their life as well?
Think about it! You could brighten your own day as well as somebody else’s day, too. And also think about the long term benefits if you took the time to do this every day!
Here’s how it might go:
The sun is especially bright when you wake up. Take a second and say to yourself: Like!
When you’re trying to make a right turn into traffic, the person in an oncoming car slows down to let you in. Like! And maybe given them a wave to let them know.
A movie you haven’t seen in a long time and loved is going to be on TV again this week. Like!
No drama with the kids today. Like!
Wow, dinner was pretty good tonight if you do say so yourself. Like!
See the pattern here?
Now let’s go back to social media for a minute. I suspect that you, as do I, go through your favorite sites, including this site, with an eye toward identifying postings that you like. And that hit that like button fairly often, if not real often. Liking on social media sites is second nature.
So the point I am trying to make is that you can choose to go through your day with the same attitude. What catches my eye? What reminds me of something I need to be aware of? What teaches me something I need to know? What makes me happy? And when you see it? That’s right: Like!
Looking for the potential likes each day can also become second nature. If just takes some practice.
Here are couple of important ways that liking your life can benefit you:
First, if you are looking for things that you can like about your day, this means you are more likely to focus on what’s working in your life rather than what’s not so great. In other words, where the cup is half full instead of half empty. “Liking” is really a vehicle to help retrain your mind to have a more positive perspective.
Sure, looking for what you can like is kind of a game. So why not have some fun with it? It sure can’t hurt to introduce some lightheartedness into your day. A laugh, a smile, contribute to your overall wellness.
And keep in mind that a positive attitude is contagious. When you’re focused on what’s good in life, and take the time to point out the good in others as well, you can’t help but have a positive impact on the people around you.
So… a challenge. How about one “like” per hour, starting now? And maybe at the end of the day, take a few minutes to remember what the days likes were all about. Think of how your overall outlook on life could improve if you end the day tallying up the likes, and contemplating what’s good in your life, and then and start the next day looking for ways to accumulate new likes.
You like?