I Wrote Down 3 Positive Things for 21 Days and Here's What I Got Out of It

I didn't think much of this challenge when I started it out with a 'why not' approach. I thought, "eh, I've got nothing to lose, right?" Turns out, I had been missing out on something I didn't know I was missing out on. (Does that make sense? I hope so.)

From this website, I discovered five-ways to be more positive and I basically went with the easiest, number one:

"Three Gratitudes: Pause to take note of three new things each day that you are grateful for. Doing so will help your brain start to retrain its pattern of scanning the world, looking not just for the negative inputs but for the positive ones."

It never occurred to me that thinking on the positive might bring the positivity out in my personality and thereby seep into my every day goings-on. And talk about ending your day on a high note, I did all of my reflections right before I went to bed.

I think it was at about ten days into the challenge that I actually felt myself feeling physically happier. And I don't know if it was because of the challenge, but I'm willing to attribute some of the happiness towards it.

This may be a stretch, but I don't think I could have lasted as long as I have as a director's assistant and currently production assistant of a musical without finding the positivity in everything that I can, at least when starting out. Shifting my perspective and focusing more on what's going well and what's being accomplished is a much, I repeat, much better use of my time than complaining about everything that is or could be going wrong.

I am pleased to say I haven't given up this '3 things I'm grateful for each day' thing. I continue to write events down each evening along with my One-Line-A-Day journal, which I started at the beginning of 2018. It's a brief and easy addition to my nightly routine that gives me positive psychological benefits. I highly recommend!