Please help me spread positivity! If you like a particular tip, please forward it to anyone you think would appreciate it - family, friends, coworkers, or even your boss. Leave a copy in your break room. Thank you!

______________

Life Is Looking Up

I went for a walk today to enjoy the beautiful summer weather, but instead of paying attention to my surroundings, I was deep in thought planning, worrying, ruminating... Suddenly I remembered where I was and how I should be focused on the warm sunshine and the green trees. It always feels like summer goes by way too fast, and here I was, missing an opportunity to savor it.

One of my favorite ways to shift my focus to the present when I’m outdoors is to look up. I look up and notice the blue sky, clouds, and tree tops gently moving in the wind. Towards evening or at night, I love to look up and see the stars, planets, moon, and sometimes the Milky Way. There’s something magical about looking up at the sky that pulls me back into the present moment.

We spend so much of our waking hours not paying attention to what’s going on around us. In fact, some studies have found that our unconscious mind has us on automatic pilot mode 95% of the time! Wow! This means that most of the time, we’re not consciously living our lives. Our actions, reactions, and thoughts are based on our ingrained habits, our survival instincts, and not intentional choices. Most of the ~60,000 thoughts we have per day (Phew! That’s a lot!) are being generated from our default mode, which, for many of us, can include a lot of worry, frustration, or other negative emotions.

The next time you’re outside, give it a try. Take a moment to look up, become aware of where you are, and live consciously.

To browse past positivity tips, visit this page.

Tina Hallis, Ph.D., is a professional speaker and founder of The Positive Edge, a company dedicated to helping individuals and organizations increase their positivity to improve the quality of people’s work lives and the quality of company cultures.