By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea
Summer is a time to enjoy the warmer weather and take a little time off from work. As a business owner, taking true time off is rare for me (Nadine). Even when I have time “off”, I tend to use that time to catch up on work tasks that I couldn’t get
to. Clearly, I have an issue with knowing when to relax. I’m a work in progress on this front, but last week I took an actual vacation. My son, who is my youngest, graduated from high school. Our gift to him was to take him on a vacation. We went to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and stayed at a beautiful resort. The stunning scenery with majestic mountains all around helped me to completely unplug from the work for the week.
Not only is time off a chance to recharge your batteries but it is a time to focus energy and attention on only what is around you and not what you left back home. It is a time to focus on the positive. During the week, I did an exercise in positive psychology called Three Good Things (also called The Three Blessings). Each night, I wrote down 3 positive things that happened that day and why they happened. This exercise is not just a nice idea. It is an important element to learning to be more optimistic and resilient. It’s based on solid research and has been proven to enhance well-being. For more visit authentichappiness.org or read the book, Flourish by Martin Seligman (https://www.amazon.com/Flourish-Visionary-Understanding-Happiness-Well-being/dp/1439190763)
As I wrote down my Three Good Things each day, I found that I was noting things that I generally take for granted. For example, one of my entries was that my husband makes me laugh. He’s funny every day so I don’t give it much thought but when you think about it, how awesome is that? To live with someone that makes you laugh so hard you spit your coffee. It deserves to be written down and appreciated. It’s also interesting that when I first began the project, I had to think for a bit about what to put down but eventually found myself deciding on only 3 things from a large list in my mind. I even found myself thinking about the list during the day as good things happened. Focusing on good things lifts your mood and channels your thoughts in a positive direction.
I encourage you to give the Three Good Things exercise a try. Maybe even do it as a family. Do it every night before bed for one week. What can it hurt to jot a few notes each night if it might brighten your state of mind? Take some time to reflect on the good, the heartwarming, the small nice moments and the things that make you happy.
