Want to feel good? - Try this...

 Create friendships and foster intrinsic rewards - try it!

One of the most rewarding feelings are the ones you feel inside. Intrinsic rewards. They can last indefinitely and be tapped into any time for a dose of dopamine feel good stuff!

A deeply distraught man told me one time, that he decided to call for help because there was a lady passing him in the store and she smiled and said ‘I hope you have a good day’. He was there to get alcohol to mix with his pills to end his pain. He felt support and happiness for a moment and it was just enough intrinsic anchor to get him the help he needed.

Think back to a time that you walked through a door and someone was smiling at you and you couldn’t help but to smile back, no matter what the day had been like. There is a tiny dose of dopamine that you get from that little spark of joy. 

Now, imagine multiplying that by 1,000. Do something good and take note of how you feel. There is a little reward that exists inside and when you think back on that good feeling, your body reacts to some degree in the same way. Little dose of joy through your veins. 

 

I have the absolute pleasure of knowing this man. Smiles most of the time (try not to mess up his food order after a very long day), is the FIRST to help and the last to complain. Jon Kilbourne works hard, plays harder and is the most supportive and passive guy I know, besides the one up in the bed of the truck. 

You may never know what kind of impact you have on someone - try to make those impacts positive and up-lifting. Remember - no matter whom you are dealing with or your feelings for them, they have been precious to someone at some time. There are, of course, people that have wronged others, feel not any negativity, it is a drain on your good feelings. Stay the course. 

I suggest this book if you want to learn more about the “Vagabonding” art:

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel