Things that don’t suck

For over a year now, I have kept a gratitude journal. Every night before I go to bed, I write down at least five things for which I am grateful. I find that this practice puts me in a great state of mind just before sleep.

Recently, some friends of mine have started a daily practice of making a list of “Things That Don’t Suck” as a way of keeping a more positive attitude amidst all of the ways that we could perceive life as being not so good. There are four or five of us doing it now, and I hope it grows to be many more.

Personally, I have loved reading their entries. In those moments when we are grasping for a silver lining, we find that the simplest things can do it for us. I am noticing things I often take for granted, such as the way my three cats all come running to greet me when I walk in the door, or the fact that my partner made me breakfast again.

I am noticing that we are recognizing the positive in a previously perceived negative; for example, instead of saying, “Only one more week of vacation left,” we are reframing and saying, “Still one more week of vacation.” What a difference.

Another observance is an awareness of the little pleasures – the taste of a certain flavor of ice cream, the color of the sky just before a storm, time to oneself amidst an otherwise busy life.

All of us tend to list our accomplishments. We all love the feeling of accomplishment and feel grateful when we have succeeded in our endeavor, whatever it may be. I suggest that we set ourselves some smaller tasks each day so that we can experience that feeling of success. After awhile, we build the habit of success and the larger tasks seem less daunting.

Today I found myself listing the lesson I learned from a difficult situation. Even those things that suck have a gift that we can take away with us to use again and again, if we but take a moment to find it.

Go ahead. Take some time each day to make a list of things that don’t suck. It will change your life for the better.