Memories are made of feelings

They say that the things you remember are the events and moments with vivid, strong emotions attached. Okay, I'm going to be black and white here - these vivid emotions tend to be either extremely positive or negative. For instance, many people remember assassinations, 9/11 etc. They also remember weddings, births, graduation, etc. In fact, the list goes on and on.

However, I'll take it one step further to say that I think it's not only the vivid, big, over-the-top memories that stick, but also the smaller ones. They add up!

I believe we need to ensure we have an incredibly rich store of positive memories to draw upon and remember, or else we might think on our deathbeds that we did not enjoy our lives. And that would be such a shame. I think if we begin with all the smaller positive memories, when the big ones come along, they become that much more important, that much more vivid, and then that much more memorable.

I will start small - we all have to start somewhere. I need to savour at least 1 positive memory every single day. By making that conscious decision to savour and relive something that day, it helps me remind and reward myself with positive feelings that seem to flow into the following day. And there are lots of positive things that happen every day if you are open to seeing them.

I did not have a bad day today. However, it started a little different from most Saturdays. Today we had a snowstorm and when I got to the fitness class I teach, I started with about 5 people. I was getting ready to start, and one of the 5 people said, "Don't worry, I'm sure more people will come" and I said, "I'm not worried. No matter how many people show up, we're going to have a good time, just the few of us." 23 more people showed up. Now, 28 is much fewer than the typical 40+ Saturday class, however for a snowstorm class, I was pretty happy. Plus, at the end, a new participant said to me, "That was INCREDIBLE! I really enjoyed that!"

Bingo. Positive memory. Happy pat on the back. And it's only 10:30am. I wonder how many more positive things will happen over the course of the day!

Remember to savour your memories and make more positive ones. I can't think of a better way to be rich, than to be rich with happiness.