It’s very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of our busy lives.
Barely giving time to reflect on the day… or if we do, it’s often on the negatives ‘why did I do or say that?’, ‘what does that mean?’, ‘did I do enough?’
How often do you stop and think – ‘Hey! that was a great day and I did really well!’ – ?
This is why many people swear by journaling.
To stop and reflect and get everything out of your system (good and bad) and then, let it go.
But if we focus too much on the ‘bad’ or negative things – how easy is it to let go?
It can be helpful to have a positive question or prompt at the top of your journal page.
I often get little mindful reminders, and yesterday’s was:
Recall one beautiful thing you’ve seen today…
At the time (I think it was around the middle of the day) I thought, hmmm not sure – maybe the beautiful berries on my bowl of porridge this morning?
Or the amazing clear blue sky – that typifies a Queensland winter day?
But I thought I’d leave it until a while so I could reflect fully on the day.
Sure enough, later on I was outside with my husband when I heard the call of some Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.
It’s such a beautiful, haunting sound, and they are such graceful birds.
I looked around and a pair came flying right over us and the surrounding gum trees.
As our gaze followed them we both noticed – at exactly the same moment – a Koala in one of our gum trees.
Talk about timing and coincidence.
If we hadn’t been outside, or heard the Cockatoos, or looked up at them at that exact moment – all of this would have been missed!
There’s a lovely quote although I have no idea who originally said it:
Look for something positive in every day, even if some days you have to look a little harder.
Something we quite often do at the end of the day, and especially if we are travelling, is to ask each other this simple question:
“What was the highlight of your day..?”
It really helps you to reflect and think about what you have been doing, and what you have seen.
It’s also a good way of finding a positive in your day.
So whether or not you journal – try to reflect on something positive each day.
What beautiful thing did you see?
What was your highlight of the day?
What made you smile?
What are you grateful for today?
It doesn’t have to be anything monumental.
It could be something very simple that makes you smile, laugh or reflect happily:
The fresh smell of coffee, feeling the cold air on your skin, noticing something on your morning walk, observing an act of kindness, seeing children laughing, a bird song, a frosty cobweb, hearing the sea, seeing some colourful flowers, a stranger’s smile, something your pet did, a random message from a friend…
The list is endless.
It’s just taking the time to notice that something nice did happen in amongst all that busyness.
Don’t forget you could also make the difference to someone else’s day – by being that stranger that smiles at them, or by sending a random message to a friend.
Ann 🙏