Change your default setting to amusement.
You heard me. That’s something I heard online that really resonated with me about a year ago, and is what I practice in my daily life.
The idea is that you should approach every situation with a feeling of being slightly amused rather than slightly annoyed, and your life will open up in ways you’d never imagine.
Imagine you’re walking into a classroom, and your teacher assigns the longest assignment known to man. Instead of automatically groaning and complaining about it, feel amused! Feel a little bit of joy as you answer every question. Joke around with your friends about how long this will take. Have fun! In situations that expect annoyance, fight back with joy. Be the light in the room so that others can respond in the same way.
Science backs this idea, with studies showing that amusement will activate reward centers in the brain and release dopamine, even allowing us to see things with big-picture processing. When we are annoyed, our brains signal fight-or-flight stress hormones. Why put your body under more stress?
I can speak to this idea, specifically because I’ve been implementing it in my daily life for almost two years now. When you stop being easily annoyed by things, life becomes so much more interesting. Three tests tomorrow? I’m excited to study all night with some great music in the background! Busy week? I’m living my high school experience to the fullest!
Experiences begin to blossom in ways that you could never imagine. Feeling amused at all times makes almost everything something you get to go through, not have to.
So change that setting!