Natural Highs

I went through an old scrapbook of mine from around 2004-2007 and came across this article that I will probably bring into the groups I teach on drugs and alcohol. Spinning off from Dr. Andrew Weil's philosophy on drugs and alcohol (drugs and alcohol aren't bad-it is our relationship to drugs or alcohol that is bad; and also, drugs do not contain highs-they trigger the highs within us) he believes that people use drugs (as most mammals do) to seek an altered experience of life. At the end of the book is a chapter on how to seek natural highs, rather than seek a synthetic one. For example, how do you trigger adrenalin in the body? Jump out of an airplane (preferably with a parachute). Here is the list that I had in my scrapbook that I found online (feel free to add to it): 50 Natural Highs 1. Falling in love. 2. Laughing so hard your face hurts. 3. A hot shower. 4. No lines at the Super Walmart. 5. A special glance. 6. Getting mail. 7. Taking a drive on a pretty road. 8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio. 9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside. 10. Hot towels out of the dryer. 11. Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half price. 12. Chocolate or vanilla milkshake. 13. A long distance phone call. 14. A bubble bath. 15. Giggling. 16. A good conversation. 17. The beach. 18. Finding a $20 bill in your coat from last winter. 19. Laughing at yourself. 20. Midnight phone calls that last for hours. 21. Running through sprinklers. 22. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all. 23. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful. 24. Laughing at an inside joke. 25. Friends. 26. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you. 27. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep. 28. Your first kiss. 29. Making new friends or spending time with old ones. 30. Playing with a new puppy. 31. Having someone play with your hair. 32. Sweet dreams. 33. Hot chocolate. 34. Road trips with friends. 35. Swinging on swings. 36. Wrapping presents under the Christmas tree while eating cookies and drinking eggnog. 37. Song lyrics printed inside your new CD so you can sing along without feeling stupid. 38. Going to a really good concert. 39. Making eye contact with a cute stranger. 40. Winning a really competitive game. 41. Making chocolate chip cookies. 42. Having your friends send you homemade cookies. 43. Spending time with close friends. 44. Seeing smiles and hearing laughter from your friends. 45. Holding hands with someone you care about. 46. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change. 47. Riding the best roller coasters over and over. 48. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you. 49. Watching the sunrise. 50. Getting out of bed every morning and thanking God for another beautiful day.