WE ALL NEED MICRO-MOMENTS OF POSITIVITY
It’s an unfortunate reality of today that our attention is constantly being pulled in countless directions, always at breakneck speed and lasting only a few TikTok seconds.
Yet it is precisely small moments of joy like these – unplanned, unexpected and serendipitous – that deeply nourish our souls in ways both refreshing and abiding. What a shame to miss them or fail to notice them when they happen right before our very eyes.
Barbara Fredrickson, director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, once stated that micro-moments of positivity don’t just make you feel happy or good in the instant they occur – they can actually improve your well-being.
Such moments, she explained, “act as nutrients for psychological health and growth, helping you become a better version of yourself, little by little”.
My project has shown me that we don’t have to go hunting for these moments. It can be as simple as pausing more regularly and paying attention to what goes on around us, away from our devices and distractions.
I’ve learnt to slow down, focus on living each moment more attentively and at a more measured pace. In doing so, I’ve become more conscious and self-aware, and have learnt to let go of things I have no control over and focus on those I do.
It has also helped me ease my daily anxieties and worries – over not just my wife’s health but also my children’s growth and our family’s overall well-being – and instead, nurture a wellspring of optimism within me.
As I reflect on my delights of 2024 and 2025, I intend to continue collecting more for as long as I can – so the joy and gratitude they afford can help me, hopefully, to become a better version of myself. Little by little, year by year.
Here’s to 2026, and all the delights it has in store!
Kelvin Seah Lee Nguon is an adjunct lecturer in communications and runs workshops in dramatising personal narratives. He is a stay-at-home father to two teen boys and leads a community of caregiver dads.
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Source: CNA
