"This January, start the year with an empty jar. Each week add a note with a good thing that happened. On New Year's Eve empty the jar and read about the amazing year you had."Donna followed through; I didn't. I printed the picture to put in that jar, but I never took the time to meditate on the good things happening in 2019. I asked Donna if she had read her notes on New Year's Eve this year, as planned. She said she read them within a couple of days of New Year's Eve. Donna recommends being regular, if you decide to do something like this. She wrote on Sundays every week, and she put the date on each note. She isn't planning to continue writing the notes this year. Neither am I, even though I still have that empty jar with a printout of the illustrated directions still in it.
And yet ... and yet ... I saved this note from a Kindle book I've already read this year: Ten Keys to Happier Living: A Practical Science-Based Handbook for Happiness ~ by Vanessa King, 2016, self-help, rated 9/10.
"Spending a few moments each day or each week writing things down we've appreciated, enjoyed and were grateful for can have a powerful impact. ... When we write, whether by hand or electronically, we engage more of our senses and focus more" (loc. 4377, 4382).One of those ten keys to happier living is AWARENESS. Spending a whole year looking for the GOOD things in your life is surely a good way to focus your awareness and become more positive. And happier.
Here are all ten keys to happier living, for those who want to know:
- Giving
- Relating
- Exercising
- Awareness
- Trying Out
- Direction
- Resilience
- Emotions
- Acceptance
- Meaning
3 comments:
I like this idea, too!! I think if our kids were still young, we would definitely do this. Maybe I will anyway - we have some empty jars in the basement!
I sometimes keep a Joy Journal, jotting down things each day - big and very small - that give me joy. I did it regularly for a while when I was first chronically ill and needed help coping, and I still resume the habit once in a while or just page through the journal to remind me of all the joyful things in my life!
I also do a #GratefulToday post on Twitter and on the Facebook page for my chronic illness blog. I find that the worst days, when it's hardest to think of something, are the times when I need it the most :)
Thanks for sharing -
Sue
Book By Book
I was really good about doing a daily gratitude in 2019 until the end of October/beginning of November when I stopped. I was having a tough time in the fall and realize now I probably should have worked harder to continue the gratitude writing; maybe it would have helped.
Sue, I think a Joy Journal may make even MORE sense, and you'd have a record in a book/journal rather than on a separate piece of paper once a week. I think my blog is a journal, of sorts, since I enjoy when I do a search for something and happen to read something ELSE where I happened to use the same word. Sometimes it makes me smile.
Helen, I think you're right. Maybe thinking about gratitude would have helped you through times that weren't necessarily brimming in joy and gratitude. Maybe it would even be worth reading back over your earlier "Daily Gratitude" entries to bring a smile or a good feeling to your "down" day, whenever they occur.
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