Multiplying the good

Haven't been feeling very philosophical lately. But I HAVE noticed that I've been having a lot more fun lately and I laugh out loud more. And I smile more. I wonder if it has to do with my efforts to look for the good in every day. Maybe there really is something to the old "attitude of gratitude" thing. Thanksgiving day was a good example. I was by myself all day long and some people felt really sorry for me. But it was a truly awesome day. The weather was gorgeous and I took a three mile walk. There was a little bit of a breeze blowing and the sun was warm on my face. I almost felt like I was at the beach. I love walking on the beach. In fact, one thing that makes me feel good is to close my eyes and think about how it feels to walk on the beach. I'm learning that I can still draw joy from past experiences by just reliving them in my mind. I've also learned that the opposite is true. Unfortunately, I've had more experience reliving painful experiences than joyful ones. I'm working on that. But it seems to me that when we replay experiences in our minds, it's just like having the experience all over again. It's like it multiplies the feelings we had when it first happened. So I think I'm going to try to relive some happy, joyful experiences so I can feel those great feelings again. And try NOT to relive the bad stuff. So if it's true that we attract to ourselves more of what we think about the most, then if I'm thinking about really happy times I've had, then I should have MORE happy times, right???? Hmmmm. I think I'll put this idea to the test.