Ode To Joy #6 - Three Things

In church about a month ago the speaker was talking about ways to have joy in your life. He was reading about some type of study that was done that determined the things that give people lasting happiness. Naturally money they found out did not bring long term happiness or joy. They listed all the things that did however I don't remember them all. The one I do remember is the #1 thing they said that brings lasting happiness in your life which is writing down 3 things each day that you are thankful for or that made you happy that day. That really made me think. There was a time in my life, many many moons ago, when I would sit down at the end of the day and write in my "Happiness Journal" all the things that made me happy that day. And I remembered the feelings that I would get as I took a moment to reflect on the day gone by and really look for small things that had happened that day that made me happy. Some days were easier than others and I could list a whole slew of things. Other days I really had to search and think hard to find things to write. But you know what, I could always find something. And what it made me realize is that there are so many MANY small things that occur in our day to day hum drum lives that can bring us joy if we just watch for them. If we aren't watching they just pass us by and we go on about our business and never even take the time to notice or appreciate them. And the more we are looking for the simple small good things in our lives, the more simple small good things we will realize we have that we had never even appreciated before because we didn't recognize them. Steve and I have always had a tradition in our home for meal time where we go around the table and have each person tell the best thing that happened to them that day and the worst thing that happened to them that day. This gives us an insight to what is going on in the lives of our children and helps them to talk to us about things that they might not otherwise bring up. Since we heard that talk in church though, we have changed things up a bit. Now we go around the table and have everyone tell 3 good things about their day. It makes a difference when you are focused on the positive. What I have realized is that the more you do this exercise, the more you pay attention all day to the good things that happen and the more time you spend looking for the good things, the more good things there are. And the more good there is, the less bad. It is the law of attraction. But hey, lets not get into that right now. That is a whole other Ode in and of itself. So go out today and take the time to look for all the good around you, I think you might be surprised.