How coffee inspired positive emotion within me.

This morning I was flipping through my journal and stumbled upon an older entry that was written this year on August 29th.

On this particular page was one of my most powerful memories.

Allow me to explain…

When I wrote that particular entry on August 29th it was one of the final days I had in my beautiful studio apartment in Downtown Boston. I was at my favorite coffee shop conveniently located about 30 steps across the street, Jaho coffee & wine bar. During those 5 months I lived downtown, I had spent a lot of time at Jaho doing the following:

-Drinking lots of coffee and espresso

-Meeting my very first friends in Boston

-Doing homework

-Taking girls out on first dates

-Reading in my spare time

Anyways, I ordered the usual Cinnamon Bliss coffee, one of their signature espresso drinks, made of Espresso, Cinnamon, Milk and Sugar. This drink is hands down the greatest caffeinated beverage I’ve experienced in my 25 years on the planet.

I was outdoors in the patio at the white tables on Washington Street, people watching. The sun made a soft appearance and began rising from behind the tall sky scrapers that surrounded me.

After about 3 minutes, my cinnamon bliss was placed on my table from one of the lovely Baristas.

I put down the book I was reading and held the cup in my hands. Its warmth brought a smile to my face.

The sun was now completely visible and caressed my face as I drew closer to take a sip.

Once the cinnamon bliss met my lips, I was consumed in an explosion of flavor. In other words, I was fully in cinnamon bliss. (Corny, I know)

I even closed my eyes for a second to fully experience the sensations of the moment. The sound of people walking and talking in the bustling city occupied the walls of my ears. In my sight was the bright sun, casting golden reflections on the buildings around me as birds zipped through the streets, looking for a quick snack.

The moment was so pleasant and filled me with positive emotion. Everything seemed to be just perfect, so I relished the feeling for as long as possible.

Taking in moments like these is something I learned how to do from Rick Hanson Ph.D.’s book, “Hardwiring Happiness”. The book teaches you an easy to follow method to transform positive experiences into permanent neural structures in the brain that you can call upon at any moment to combat negative feelings or just have an experience similar to the one I wrote about here.

By doing this over time, you can compile a positive memory bank, or arsenal, as I like to call it, of memories and experiences that you can call upon at any moment to help overcome negative thoughts, stress or anxiety.

It’s just a cup of coffee, but for me that memory is amongst the most powerful in my arsenal that continues to bring me joy to the point where I felt compelled to share it with the world.

How could you hardwire happiness into your life?

 

 

Thank you for reading! What feedback or questions do you have?

-Danilo Vuk Capric