Good Source of Dopamine

I discovered a new way I can calm myself and make myself feel good. Give my brain that "hit" of dopamine, in a way that is not destructive nor sinful in any way. I know there must be people out there who try to find ways to get satisfied and get that "feel good" chemical (dopamine). There are plenty of ways to do that. Eat something you love, be with someone you love, do something you love, etc.

There are of course more destructive ways that I do not recommend in the slightest. But since I should try to keep a neutral standing I'll kinda list a couple but I do not have any experience with these, so I might be wrong. I mean you have drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. Some are more sinful than others, but it also depends on context.

ANYWAYS, back to the way I realized is a good way to make me feel good about myself with no regrets and without conducting sinful behaviors or actions.

This might sound dumb, but certain music can make me nostalgic. And typically (according to a very brief Google search) nostalgia elicits the release of dopamine. So you'll feel good. Now at the same time it's a mild double-edged sword, in that, at least for me, I long for the days and the times in which these memories were formed.

But music like the classic Pirates of the Caribbean "He's a Pirate", can get me to reminisce of my senior year of high school, when I played and marched for the last time ever, since I most likely won't be joining the marching band here at LU.

Or just now I came across someone playing various songs that are just background music for Minecraft. It sounds dumb but it reminded me of the good ol' days. 8th grade through high school were my biggest Minecraft-ing days, and those felt amazing. School was going well (ish) and I was having fun on weekends playing Minecraft, making Minecraft Let's Play videos for my (now deleted) YouTube channel, to just overall enjoying creating new worlds and crafting them the way I wanted them.

It makes me yearn to go back in time and relive my past. I know that the only thing I can do now is look forward to whatever the Lord has in store for me. But I would just love to give up something now to even just relive some of these memories in my past. I loved my senior year of high school. I'd relive the entirety of that year. Even just going to classes and suffering through calculus. You heard me. I'd suffer through high school level calculus again just to relive the memories I made.

You couldn't give me anything in this world that would make me trade my memories away. As much as material things are great, and I'd love a whole bunch of things, I'd rather have my memories and the people I made them with rather than have something that's cool to have.