Choose to 'Catch' a Good Mood

Who do you feel?

In my stroll across the web today, I stumbled upon an article that looks like it has made its rounds, dating back to at least 2005. The item, entitled “How to ‘Catch’ a Good Mood (http://tinyurl.com/lfo9nd), really struck me for some reason today.

We all know we can ‘catch’ a cold, we can be infected by any number of diseases, we can fall prey to a contagious ‘something’ at any time. But, this item talked about the infectious nature of positivity and the people we choose to be around.

I have known people in my life that when I was in their presence, I wished I was somewhere else and when I left their presence, I wished I could forget I ran into them.

The article quoted Elaine Hatfield, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii. She stated that, “Our moods and emotions are easily affected by others. The closer you are to someone, the more likely you are to be infected by his or her emotions."

The bible puts it another way in I Corinthians 15:33, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” So, what are we affected by when we are around others and what are we affecting? We can all choose to be either change our environment or be changed by it. What are you gonna do?

We have all heard the term, “infectious laughter.” I would much rather be around someone that was laughing hysterically, than constantly in a state or dismay. We begin to be affected by those around us very early in life – the article talks about by the age of one or earlier.

We can monitor and affect emotional change in our lives. Choose to be positive, in spite of what is going on and ‘catch’ a good mood on purpose.