It is one thing to switch from a negative emotion to a positive emotion quickly, but it is quite another thing to develop the habit of feeling positive emotions as a natural state. Many people have learned to constantly feel a negative emotion, even if nothing negative is going on. It is just a conditioned habit. That emotion has been felt so often that the pattern has been "learned." You can unlearn this habit just as easily as you learned it. It may take practice and time, but it can be done with conscious awareness.

Positive emotions are patterns of energy, just like negative emotions. Consciously explore positive emotions and learn their patterns. You can easily move into them even if you're not feeling them because you have learned the energy pattern and can duplicated. It can be thought of as a "fake it to you make it" strategy. In one moment you might be feeling a negative emotion, then you adopt a learned pattern of a positive emotion, and in the next moment you are feeling the positive emotion.

The only way to learn positive emotional patterns is to explore them as fully as you experience the negative emotions. Next time you are feeling a positive emotion, explore it fully. Taste it, smell it, feel it, hear it, see it as energy. Use all your senses to find out what this energy signature pattern is all about. Feel what it is like to have it in your body. Feel it at the molecular level, the cellular level, and the atomic level. You'll notice that even your cells feel happier, not just your heart. Memorize this pattern so that you can move into it even when you're not feeling it. Learn the "notes" of the scale just as a musician learns notes and scales, and you will be able to move about in the emotional frequencies with ease and speediness.

Nancy Ashley suggests in her book Create Your Own Happiness (1988), that the practice of gratitude and appreciation is a powerful way to create a positive reality. She says, "If you find that a lot of people in your life do things for you that you appreciate and feel like giving a heartfelt thanks Bork, you created that reality for yourself… it feels great to express appreciation and thanks, and it feels great to receive it. You just want to get that person [who expressed gratitude for your actions] more and more." Nancy Ashley suggests an exercise in the habit of happiness. "Every day, take 10 minutes to write a thank you note to yourself for all the beautiful things you have created in the past twenty four hours: the sun in the trees, the purring in your lap, the smile of a child, the joke someone made at work, the insight you had, the letter from a friend. Revel in how good it feels to do this and savor the appreciation and gratitude you're giving to yourself. Notice how much more you want to do for yourself."