My little red tether is my anchor in running with my friends. A beautiful guide dog has been my tether/anchor in mobility and independence for 17 years: 1. Pantera 2. Cricket, and now my beautiful 3. Georgina (Georgie). A life of family and friends is my joy and anchor in life.

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. CC Scott

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Therapist's Thoughts. What went well.

Last week I shared the gratitude exercise.  I have been reflecting much and plan to begin this letter on the plane that Cricket and I will be on later tomorrow.  I loved your comments and would love to hear further if you feel like sharing.  This week it is the What-Went-Well Exercise - also called three blessings by Martin Seligman again from the book Flourish.  Yes there are times we need to analyze bad events so that we can learn from them.  "However, he states, people tend to spend more time thinking about what is bad in life than is helpful.  This focus on negative events sets us up for anxiety and depression.  One way to keep this from happening is to get better at thinking about and savoring what went well.  He suggests every night for the next week, set aside ten minutes before you go to sleep.  Write down three things that went well today and why they went well.  You may use a journal or your computer to write about the events, but it is important that you have a physical record of what you wrote.  The three things need not be earthshaking in importance.  Next to each positive event, answer the question "Why did this happen?  Writing about why the positive events in your life happened may seem awkward at first, but stick with it for one week.  It will get easier.  He indicates we will be happier and addicted to this exercise six months from now."

I find this a fun activity to do.  Here's my attempt for today:

Nice relaxing hour break.  Cricket and I had an appointment that due to transportation 'fun' we were in the area an hour early.  We enjoyed walking along Main Street and stopping in a few fun shops.  We went into a running store and have just the right size pouch for the marathon run on Saturday.  We also stopped at Einstein Bagels and had a yummy pumpkin muffin.  I felt Cricket weaving around and stopped and turned around and clicked my phone and appreciated her good work through construction.  Why did this happen?  I decided rather than just sit and be early for my appointment, I would enjoy the time of being early to have an adventure.  


We enjoyed a great juicer with kale, grapes, peaches, yogurt, ... not sure what else was in there :).  Why did this happen?  Awesome husband.
Cricket and I are flying out in the morning to go to San Rafael, California for a couple days.  We have our work caught up and almost ready to go.  We are so grateful that this trip coincides with the days that we have  rest days for our marathon on Saturday.  Why did this happen?  Some busy, hard working days to get ready.  
I feel like I could go on .. blessing of getting to stop in and visit our daughter.  So fun to have them live close by.  Blessing of going to a job that I love.  Blessing of running with my friends this morning.  Blessing of getting to talk to a friend on the phone.  

I would love to hear 'what went well' for you today :)!  

4 comments:

S.DAY said...

I LOVE the idea of focusing on what went well, it's like a little stretch for my brain to let go of the "what failed" and re focus.
Here's my list for today
1. I finally finished sewing the crib skirt for Owen. There were a lot of crying kids in the background... but I got it completed!
2. I found $7 left over on a gift card that I really really really needed to get enough gas in my car to get us through the end of the week till pay day!
3. I got to eat dinner 1-1 with Layla after the boys were asleep and we had a great time talking about our favorite part of the day.

HAVE FUN IN CALI. I'd love to drop by for a few min before your big race! If you have time. Just a super quick visit :)

Becky Andrews said...

Love it Shannon! Would love, love to see you ... I'll be back Friday early evening if you are around.

Clive said...

Have a lovely trip - hope everything goes well for you.

Great idea to stop and think about what went well ....

Guess we caught up with a friend that we hadn't seen for months today, the parrot in the pet store talked to Clive & Murray (huge excitment from Murray) and Sorcha was thrilled to hear that she could have a day off school tomorrow (she's helping out all day at an autism fundraiser though!) but she will get to meet a famous Irish boy band member at the fundraiser, so all in all it was a day that went well!!

Safe travels ....

Fiona

iizLiz said...

Best of luck on your first marathon! I'm a friend of Natalie's and I'm so excited for you!!! Rock on, mama