Think happy thoughts.

Today I got upset over something dumb. If you know me well, you'll know that the things that I actually have physically-effecting nightmares from are usually dumb, and this was right along those same lines. Only in real life. I was trying really hard as I walked about my daily errands to not be upset about this dumb occurrence, which would not bother the average person in the slightest, and really shouldn't bother me either. But I was, and I bumped into a friend who noticed.

"How you doin'? You doin' alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just upset about something dumb right now, but it's no big deal, really."
"Think happy thoughts."

It was a simple reply. But a lot harder to do than I realized. If I had to bet, I would say that most likely when you are upset about something, you don't start thinking about happy things to take your mind off of it. You probably, like me, reply the situation numerous times, try to figure out what could have gone differently, try to tell yourself that really it wasn't that bad and you shouldn't be upset. But you probably don't try to take your mind off it altogether by thinking of happy thoughts.

In my attempt I started to fish around. At first I couldn't think of anything to think about. Then I started trying to settle on general topics that I was sure to find a happy memory in: Botswana, my friends here, the positive steps I've been making in my life lately. Remarkably (or perhaps not so remarkably) I began to find negative thoughts to think with regards to each of these categories. Who knew it would take so much more effort to dig up the happy memories, and then to hold them up at the surface and not let some other unhappy thought overtake them! Moderately ridiculous, I would say.

When did it get so hard to "think happy thoughts"? I know they're out there, because these days I tend to be happy the majority of the time. So why is it so difficult to do? Not knowing anything about psychology or anything like that, I have to say that I don't know the answer to that question. But I do know that the best way to get better at something is to practice, so evidently I need to practice thinking happy thoughts on command. What's the first happy thought you can come up with today?