Our lives are fast-paced these days. It can be difficult to take time out to appreciate the pleasant moments or happy times I spend on a day-to-day basis. At the end of a long day, who among us feels we have the time and energy to look back over our day and pick out the best and the worst parts? For most of us, crawling into bed to get as many hours of shut-eye as possible is the only thing on our minds. That being said, the benefits of reviewing the good parts in your day are finally coming to light through the Happiness Box.
The Happiness Box comes from a revolutionary idea from Elizabeth Gilbert, who introduced us to the Happiness Jar Project back in 2012. The idea grew in popularity throughout the following years, eventually exploding across Social Media in 2015. The process is fairly simple; when you experience a happy moment in life, write it down on a piece of paper and place it into a container. Eventually, and hopefully, you’ll find your container filled with happy memories for you to look back on, or simply keep around for years to come.
The Happiness Box takes that concept and runs with it. What if every day could be happy? I know as well as anyone that not every day of life appears to be happy. Some days are just downright rotten. But finding one thought, one feeling, one moment of that day that brightened it up could change the way you feel about it.
Maybe, everything went wrong yesterday. I know it did for me; the weather was miserable, my boss gave me a hard time, I was snowed under with work and home-life concerns. Did I remember the guy who held the door open for me at the office? How about that delicious morning coffee, or the funny photo my friend sent to me?
So last night, I wrote these brief, happy moments down on a piece of scrap paper and placed it inside my box. We’re still ploughing hard through January and the new year hasn’t started with a bang for most of us, but my Happiness Box is already looking pretty plump. I’ve been writing down any scrap of happiness I derived from each day- seeing the sunrise, reading in bed, spending time with friends. The trick is, if you look for happiness in every day, you’ll start to find it in the smallest of places.
Once you start your happiness box, spend time reviewing and reflecting on the notes you have written; maybe once a month, every year, or when you need your day brightened. It may provide you with an insight into what really makes you happy, and how you should be spending your time. You could do this with a team at work, with your family or simply by yourself – there are no rules to your own happiness. You could even make your own box! See where your imagination takes you, you could surprise yourself.
To finish, I’d like to share one of my favourite sayings-
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognising and appreciating what we do have.” Frederick Keonig
It’s a mantra, the perfect sum-up of life on earth. So when you experience the fleeting burst of happiness from a moment in life, don’t let it pass without writing it down.
Don’t forget to get in touch and let me know how you get on.
Originally published at misssimpleliving.com