Year of Me Choice #1: Dwell on the Positive Past

To recap: I'm working towards life improvement by making intentional and thoughtful choices each and every day...then I'm going to tell you about them!

I'm a week into my Year of Me and I'm feeling pretty good. I always work well when I have goals in mind and though my goals are lofty, (inner peace, happiness, fulfillment, etc.) making small changes each week should break up those 365 days.

This week I went out to lunch with a friend (at a fantastic restaurant that I will talk about in a different post) and we got into a serious discussion about dwelling on the past. We were both feeling bad about all sorts of things (we seriously covered everything from hairstyles to past relationships). We agreed that we needed to find a way to accept the things that we cannot change and start remembering all of the greatness that has already occurred (not to mention all the good things ahead). I've been thinking about our conversation a lot over the past couple of days, and I decided it was time to break out a project that I started last year. Enter, the Year of Happy Memories Jar (Yes, I did just make up that name).

My 1st Year of Happy Memories Jar began New Years Day, 2013. My friend and I read all of our memories out loud on New Years Eve one year later. I loved reliving some of my best moments and it made me realize that after all was said and done, it really had been a fantastic year. No mention of a fight with friends or family troubles. Only the good was celebrated and it was perfectly acceptable for us to sit back and dwell on the positive past. 

During my Year of Me I'm going to continue my dwelling by breaking out (and actually keeping up with) my 2014 Year of Happy Memories Jar. I've got the jar, lots of colorful paper, and an endless supply of sharpies. Every time something happens that you feel was significant (You cuddled a baby duckling, perhaps a friend got married) write the memory and the date down on a slip of paper, fold it up, and toss it in the jar. Soon the memories will begin piling up! I'm going to open my jar on New Years, but really, the details are all up to you.

Suddenly dwelling on the past doesn't seem like such a bad thing, H :)

Choice #1: Dwell on the positive past with a Happy Memories Jar