Positivity

Since Kate, Melissa, and I started our annual New Year’s goals challenge, even before that, I’ve listed “be positive” or “be more positive” as one of my aspirations each time. I like to think I’m not a wholly negative person, although I do admit I’m prone to seeing the glass half-empty.

I list this item every year and think that just because I have listed it, something is going to magically change to make me more positive. Where’s my genie at? Unfortunately, life does not work that way.

After years of repeat, I decided I was completely sick of the lack of positivity in my life and my seeming inability to change it. So I came up with a means to implement change. In December of last year, I went to Staples and bought another adorable mini-binder, like the one I use for word tracking, and turned it into my little positivity gem.

Every day, before I go to bed, I sit and think about one positive thing I can write down in my binder. I’m not allowed to leave my desk until I do. Some days are harder than others, but there’s always something good that occurred. Even if a moment just made me smile on a bad day, I write it down. I won’t lie, my cats make it into the binder often.

At first it was difficult to just remember to write something down, so I have the task listed as one of my daily to-do’s in my agenda. That’s accountability.

It might seem silly and overly easy to write something nice every day. I can tell you it actually works. And believe me, I’m as surprised as anyone. But writing something positive each day, even simply taking the time to look for something positive at the end of the day and sleeping on that positive thought, does wonders. There have been days where my whole demeanor has shifted. There have also been days where I’ve sat for a good twenty minutes trying my damnedest to think of something good that happened.

My bad days have been fewer and far between since I wrote my first positive thought on January 1st. I waited until I filled my binder to decide whether my experiment was worthwhile; that happened July 18. We’re now almost out of August and I’ve since restocked my binder and have kept up my trend.

I’m crossing this goal off my list when my next update comes around.

Have you taken steps in your life to increase your positivity or are you just naturally positive?

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