“You can start your day over any time you want,” I told a friend of mine over coffee. “Just shake off all the previous icky stuff and begin again.”

“Forget all your glib responses this morning.” She glowered at me. “And tell me exactly how a person is supposed to do something like that?”

I smiled. It was a teachable moment. I happen to love teachable moments.

“Do you keep a gratitude list?”

“Once in a while.” She shrugged. “But I want something right this very minute that will turn my crappy day around. Can you do that?”

“Tell me about your best vacation ever.”

“My best vacation? Seriously?” She shook her head. “I asked you for a concrete way to start my day over and you ask about my best vacation?”

“Humor me.”

She sighed. “Well, I suppose it was the time I went to Hawaii… Or Cabo… Oh, but wait a minute, there was that time the whole extended family went to Disneyland…” She smiled as she reflected. “But there was one time in Seattle, when just my husband and I took a weekend away and walked down along the waterfront and a guy was carving a totem pole and…”

My friend abruptly stopped talking. “I really can’t decide; there are so many!”

“Exactly.” I nodded. “And you could try to tell me about your best-ever birthday present, or best-ever dessert, or fishing trip, or romantic date. But in the end, you’d be so overcome by all your blessings that you couldn’t help but be in a better mood.”

I’m not an expert on how the mind works. I can’t even tell you the difference between endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. I only know that the memory of positive experiences triggers the right neurological synapses and you instantly feel better.

And when you try to choose THE BEST EVER, one memory will lead to another and another and another and you’ll be amazed and overwhelmed by the impulse to jump up and happy dance! Those little brain chemicals will rush right in and lift you up and carry you through the rough patches.

No drugs required.