Create Your Happy Space
How to hijack your ADHD brain to the sunny side of the street—my tricks to finding happiness each day.
Finding happiness is kind of elusive for my ADHD brain. There are definitely bouts and spurts of happiness thrown in with all the blunders. As far as maintaining it for an extended amount of time, forget it. Most of the time we’re just putting out fires, and happiness comes when we can fall into bed, go to sleep (if we’re lucky), and forget about all of the crap hanging over our heads until the next morning — or 3 a.m., when my brain likes to torture me with sleep disorders, dangling the 5 a.m. wake-up carrot over my head.
It took me a while to realize that happiness is always there; it’s always within reach and easy to touch, if only for a second! The best way I’ve found to force myself out of my brain and into my earthly body is to create little happy spots around the house that talk to my senses.
Whether it’s the warm flame of a candle or fire, the soothing language of a fountain, the smell of essential oils warming based on your mood in that moment, an assortment of leaves, rocks, or shells lounging on your coffee table that called out to you on a walk — these are all tools to hijack your brain.
[17 Ways to Throttle Intense Emotions]
I found a little bud on my kitchen floor after putting some flowers in a big vase, and I didn’t have the heart to throw it away. I threw it in a little turquoise jar with water and set it on my coffee table. I’ve been enjoying it all week! When I need some eye candy, some stimulation, some feeling, I look over at the little bud and I am happy. Create happy spots wherever you need them by using things you love to look at.
It doesn’t cost anything, and you can change them out as much as you need to keep your ADHD brain interested.
