On New Years Eve I was inspired by a link that appeared on my Facebook page:
HAPPINESS JARS!
Dear Ones -
Here it is the end of the year, and I thought it might be a good time to re-introduce to you all the concept of a Happiness Jar.
Here’s me with mine!
What is a Happiness Jar? The simplest thing in the world. You get yourself a jar (or a box, or a vessel of any kind) and every day, at the end of the day, you grab a slip of paper and write down on it the happiest moment of the day.
Even on lousy days, you do this. Because even on lousy days, there is one best moment (or at least, one least-worst moment.)
You stick that little piece of paper in the jar.
Over the years, you have a record of your happiness.
On bad days, I will thrust my fist in that jar and go fishing — pulling up a handful of great moments that I would have utterly forgotten, had I not documented them.
I’ve been doing this practice for years, and I love it.
If my house ever caught on fire, this would be the one material object I would grab before I ran out the door…because what’s inside this jar? THAT’S WHERE IT’S AT — the whole point of this life.
Over the years, my Happiness Jar has taught me much. What continually amazes me is what ends up on the slip of paper every day. Not awesome events, not huge achievements — usually just a small and tiny thing, a moment of awareness…that moment when you step outside and between the house and the car you get hit on the top of the head with a beam of sunlight, and suddenly feel awash with gratitude simply for being alive, and you think, “Yes. This is it.”
It’s usually something that small — and something that grand.
I know that many of you have started this practice, too — and I love seeing the pictures of your jars, and hearing how you have adapted this to your own lives. I love the woman who put one in the middle of her dining room table, and she and her kids each put an entry in there every day — what a cool family practice! And I love the woman who wrote to me last week saying that she had the hardest year of her life, but she kept her Happiness Jar practice going the whole time, and today — on the last day of the year, she’s going to pull out each piece of paper in the jar, to remind her that even now, even in hard times, there was always one good moment a day.
So if anyone wants to begin this practice tomorrow, a New Year is always a great place to start!
Sending love, and, of course, wishing you all an abundance of Happy Moments in 2015!
ONWARD,
LG
I have recycled a box that held a Christmas gift. From New Years Eve, I have started writing down my ‘Happiness Moments’ of the day, I won’t necessarily restrict myself to one a day…
I’d be a bit worried someone might open it and read. I do try to keep a virtual one inside my mind though.
Well I am mostly comfortable with myself so I am comfortable with others knowing my thoughts.
In any case the only person who has access to my Happiness Box is Mr C. He would never open it up to look.
I would also have told him about the thought during our daily conversations, but whether or not he remembers it or not is a different matter
On that note, I am off to write today’s entry to the box…
Interesting. It’s because I am comfortable with myself that I would never be comfortable with any others having access to all my thoughts. Not that they’d want to listen to that rambling rubbish anyway, other than a few snippets here and there, perhaps. Anyway, my jar will remain in my head.
what a great idea! and a fine shot of the lady with her happiness jar. have a great year ahead, CP!
Thanks Ayush, I hope you have a great 2015 too
What a wonderful thing. I had never heard of it. It makes sense. Life goes so fast that sometimes you forget what happens. It is like being thankful every day before going to sleep, both Ginnie and I say ‘thank you’……
I train myself already for many many years to see positive things in people too. It is so easy to see the negative in people, why not reverse it and only see the positive (IF possible) and after a while that your opinion about a person will change. For me it helps. And yes there are people I totally block, so much negativity around them that it hurts.
But there is nothing wrong with being thankful and positive
I automatically see the best in most people, somehow it is instinctive. But you are right there are some people we need to steer clear of because their negative waves a destructive to our well-being.
I am enjoying my Happiness Box I just have to remember to keep it up all year
You will need a very big jar then!
Cos every second spent should be a happy moment.
It should be, but some people distract us from that thought