So we got married in Denmark

🇩🇰In 2011 I should add... 

It was an amazing day that was filled with loads of bizarre Danish traditions. 

We has to kiss stood on chairs
We had to kiss under the table

When Christina went to the toilet for the first time all the woman had to run up and kiss me.

We had to dance the waltz, the culmination of which was all the guests clapping towards us in smaller and smaller circles before pulling Christina away hoisting me over head, cutting off my tie and cutting the toes of my socks. 

This was all great but the best bit, the best bit was that anyone could do a speech after the big 3. 

We had songs, fairytales, simple thank you's and short stories. 

In their own way every Danish gathering is like this, every two minutes there is a toast. 

A toast can seem like an empty gesture, a something to say, an interruption even. 

But each one is a mini celebration of life, a moment of gratitude. 

Many religions give thanks for their food before every meal. Something that until very recently would have been a very poignant gesture. 

Until very recently we wouldn't have been sure that food would be available at every meal time in every season. 

The celebration of food and drink and company is a reminder that life and health were not long ago something that could be gone at any moment. 

A little neuroscience secret is that in reality everyone is a negative person.

Negative thoughts are like Velcro, they stick to us and never leave because one day, they might save our lives. 

Positive thoughts however are like teflon, they serve no purpose. The brain is a survival machine not a happiness machine.

Happiness comes from addressing the balance. 

Celebrating the little things and the little wins.

Not just celebrating but re-celebrating,

Saying thank you face to face and then in text or calling, or email. 

Be grateful for the money to by the food, grateful for the meal, grateful for the company. 

Celebrate your health wins
Celebrate small business wins

The things you celebrate your brain will seek more of. 

That little rush of positive hormones.

Gratitude and celebration are the tools of both happiness and success.

Celebration and gratitude are the only way to address the balance of a negatively wired brain. 

C and G every person, moment, event, feeling that enriches your life - they all do in some way. 

Start now. 

Ed Ley 

Ps back to today, observation: Zebra crossing exist in Denmark but less as a means of crossing safely and more as a means of population control.