HISTORICAL FACTS: Unbelievable things people done | History Defined

The stories on this list are all pretty remarkable, even if some of them are pretty, shall we say, niche. Many are the kinds of stories you’d expect to be passed down to grandkids for generations. You can practically hear it: “When I was your age…”

While this can be a little uncomfortable for those of us with comparatively tame lives, these stories are also a reminder that our lives can be full of unexpected moments worth remembering. It might’ve been perfect timing, a lucky coincidence, an unusual opportunity, or something we had to work a little harder for. Whatever the circumstances, these moments are worth taking the time to appreciate.

The trouble is, we’re not always very good at doing that. We can spend an awful lot of time thinking about what went wrong and remarkably little time stopping to acknowledge what went right. Even when we accomplish something we’ve worked toward for months, it can be surprisingly easy to enjoy it for a moment and then immediately start thinking about what comes next.

Clinical psychologist Melanie McNally, Psy.D., explores this tendency in Psychology Today, pointing out that often we’re so focused on what comes next that we forget to appreciate what we’ve already achieved. Instead, she says, we should make more of an effort to celebrate our wins—both big and small.

That’s because McNally says that celebrating these wins, however big or small, “is essential for maintaining motivation and improving overall life satisfaction.” And it goes deeper than how we choose to reward ourselves—that whole cake or those drinks with friends.

Research actually shows that when we recognize our small successes, we activate the brain’s reward system. That involves dopamine—that happy little chemical our brains are always chasing—and can reinforce positive behavior. This, McNally explains, “fosters a sense of accomplishment and progress and boosts self-efficacy and self-esteem.”

So celebrating isn’t just a bit of self-indulgence. In fact, as McNally explains, “when people celebrate their achievements, they are more likely to remain motivated and pursue further goals, creating a positive feedback loop of success and satisfaction.”

And celebrating doesn’t necessarily have to mean throwing a party. Sometimes, it can be as simple as allowing yourself to enjoy a moment rather than immediately moving on from it. Think about the last bite of a particularly delicious dessert. Rather than simply swallowing it and reaching for the next thing, you might let it linger for a moment, paying attention to the flavor and texture and enjoying it for just a little longer. That, in essence, is savoring.

While these days, we’re often more inclined to do it with food, “savoring” is actually a term that psychologists, as Katie Willard Virant, MSW, JD, LCSW, explains, use more broadly to refer to “the capacity to attend to, appreciate, and enhance the positive experiences in one’s life.”

And this isn’t something we can only do in the moment, either. In fact, as Virant is careful to explain, savoring a positive event is more about mindfully appreciating it than simply experiencing it in real time. In other words, the appreciation doesn’t have to stop when the moment does.

Savoring, Virant explains, can involve calling up a pleasurable memory or anticipating something positive in the future. It can also be reactive, where you spontaneously respond to an anticipated positive experience, or proactive, where you deliberately seek out or create a positive experience.

In other words, sometimes we simply recognize and enjoy the good things that come our way; other times, we actively make room for them—or make them happen. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why psychologists have found that savoring is linked to greater life satisfaction.