Three Good Things
About ten years ago, while I was in one hell of a bad mood, a friend suggested making a list of ten good things in my life. I very reluctantly agreed. Surprisingly it helped, and I found a good trick for temporarily halting my mood and gaining perspective on my life. Ultimately, I needed to deal with why I was in such a mood, but doing that is always easier when things are in perspective. I guess I had to want to get out of my mood too. Anyway, I found this article interesting when I read it the other day:
Every night, she was to think of three good things that happened that day and analyze why they occurred. That was supposed to increase her overall happiness.
"I thought it was too simple to be effective," said Miller, 44, of Bethesda. Md. "I went to Harvard. I'm used to things being complicated." ...
Results may vary, as they say in the weight-loss ads. But that exercise is one of several that have shown preliminary promise in recent research into how people can make themselves happier - not just for a day or two, but long-term. It's part of a larger body of work that challenges a long-standing skepticism about whether that's even possible.

PostBlog: Check out Julia's cool site devoted to this.