Here's some dialogue that's been going on in the Sussex household of late.  

Husband: "How are you?" 
Me: "AMAAAAAAZING!"
Husband: "Why?"
Me: "Clean drinking water."

This repartee came about after I listened to one of Brooke Castillo's Life Coaching podcasts. After her podcast intro-greeting, which is always this breeze of energy and happy-to-be-here-ism, she said something that struck me: "When someone asks how you're doing, don't say 'Fine.' Say Amazing."

(Yes, I rolled my eyes at this).

And then Brooke let us hear how this exchange sounds.

"Hi, how are you?"
"Fine." 

Meh. Compare this to:

"Hi, how are you?"
"AMAAAAZING!"

Of course people are going to go Huh? and then ask, "Why the $*&(&!! are you amazing?" They might even be annoyed by your answer. But. But...

Brooke's pat reply to "why" is "clean drinking water." There are plenty of factual reasons why you can feel amazing--even if you sort of don't but want to.

It's brilliant. Especially since my mood has been knuckle-dragging a bit.

So I told my husband, and he's been testing me. "How are you?" here, "How are you?" there--at first I thought he was on a super considerate streak. Wow, that husband of mine is so thoughtful!  Then I caught on. He was playing with me.

"How are you?" my husband asked in the morning, as I rolled over to hit the snooze button.
"How are you?" my husband asked, yelling to me during our morning swim, across lanes. IN PUBLIC.
"How are you?" he asked me as I cut vegetables for dinner.

At first I'd look up and go, "Um . . . good!" Then he'd ask again:
"How ARE YOU?" and give me a look.
"Oh!" I caught on. "I'm AMAAAAAAZING!"
"Why?" my husband dutifully followed up.
"Clean drinking water."
Then we high-fived.

Any of us can feel amazing any moment of the day. Even if you're entertaining other feelings.

The repetition has worked. Using "amazing" to describe how I'm doing multiple times a day has done a positive number on me. My brain seems to be humming at a happier level.

I feel sort of amazing. Because... why not?

So now it's your turn.

"How are you?"

Say it. (My friend Nichole says to make it work you really have to hold the second "A".)

Be amaaaaaaazing. 

This month is dedicated to Feeling Better in a Troubled World: Simple daily life ways we can all catch a breath and remember a bit of beauty when the news is getting the best of us. If there's something you do to feel better and want to share, email me at tatyana@everydaycreative.net . XO

PS: Here's a Brooke Castillo podcast that I've been grooving on. It's about all the sneaky ways we raise our levels of Negativity