Simple

 Wearing a hair tie around my wrist to create a habit of being mindful.  As I catch a glimpse of that hair tie I stop and ask myself "What am I thinking right now?"  Is that thought a positive (good) or a negative (bad) thought?  Capturing what I am feeling will directly correlate to that thought.  Having a crappy thought is probably really bumming me out.  Do I want to feel bummed out, no.  Who would want that?  My mood, my feelings, even my surrounding circumstances are being influenced by my thoughts.  Ruminating in the cesspool of the past does not help me in any way, shape or form either.  I stop and ask myself, can I control it?  Whatever thought, event, person, actually anything other than myself....do I personally have any control over it?.  Nope. So, I have to let it go. Just let it go. Sounds easy doesn't it?  We as humans have an innate instinct to try to control, anything to everything. It's our fear for survival.  Our fear of what might happen if we lose that control.  Problem with that though is we can't predict the future anymore than we can change the past.  It all sounds so paralyzing until we realize what we can have a tremendous impact on is the present. This very moment, as you are reading this, this is the present moment The past in this scenario would be the very first word I wrote, the future is still waiting to unfold. My plans for tomorrow are just that, plans.  What I do in this moment is so very important. The actions I take, the words I say.  Are they kind?  I wear that hair tie to be mindful because my present thoughts and actions are creating my future. What do I want that to be like?  Well, definitely pretty great, right?  We only have control over our own thoughts so we only are able to create our own life. Do I want health, wealth, and happiness for the people I love?  Of course I do, but I cannot create that for them. Our thoughts are powerful but only to the entity they exist in.  I know I have many sceptics out there and if you're still reading this, I'm giving you a shout out because I am awed by your tenacity.  Becoming aware of our thoughts and the immense  power they have over every single thing happening to us should be a big wake up call.  What is an image that brings a smile to your face?  Go ahead, think of that now...are you able to frown while you're smiling?  Was there a brief pause in that pain that you feel? Keep that image with you. Bring  your happy image front and center whenever you need it.  Sounds so simplistic but what the heck, give a shot. All that will happen is for one brief moment you feel happiness.