Shifting to a More Positive Gear

My "Things That Didn't Suck Today!" notebook and a blue Pilot G-2 07 gel pen.

I'll tell you what, Babies, this social distancing, quarantine, sparkling isolation, quasi-lockdown, Matrix resetting itself thing has really been working on me.  To be honest, as I sit here writing, I can't believe this is really happening. 

It's kind of weird, too, because as Spring approached, I was kind of getting irritated at April from Six Months Ago for committing April Right Now to a bunch of stuff on the calendar back in the fall.  I don't know what was up with that broad, signing me up for so many things to do back then!  So this sparkling isolation handed down from On High should come as an agent of relief, since all those commitments have been postponed indefinitely or canceled altogether. 

But it's had me feeling Some Type of Way instead.  And I've been known to get all complain-y and negative.  That's no way to be, especially in these troubled and troubling times.

So I've seen that some of my friends are keeping a Gratitude Journal, and others still are writing things that are blessings to them on strips of paper and putting them in a Blessings Jar. 

And those things are really great and will help them feel gratitude, help them see how blessed they are.  But I realized it really isn't "me" to have or write in a Gratitude Journal.  I'm really not going to abide by a Blessings Jar.  I can't even stick to a Swear Jar, and look at all the material I give myself daily!  Hourly!  Minute-to-minute!

But I recognize that I need to pull myself out of this funk.  Maybe you do, too, but Gratitude Journals and Blessings Jars aren't really your bag, either.  That's okay.  We're okay, Friends!  So instead of keeping those things, I've been keeping a little notebook that I call my "Things That Didn't Suck Today" journal, and in it, I write one thing every day that didn't just suck to beat all. 

It's kind of like Gratitude and Blessings' back-handed compliment-slinging sister.  I try to think of my favorite thing about Today that didn't suck, and I write it down.  It feels a little more natural than being all up in Gratitude right now.  I'm meeting myself where I am, but also moving to shift into a more positive gear... hopefully.  Maybe in a couple weeks or next month or sometime in the Future, I'll have shifted out of "Hey, this day didn't suck!" to "This rad thing happened today!"

If you're having a little trouble dealing with all this too, Friends, and aren't we all, in our own ways, maybe you'd want to meet yourself where you are and start a little "Things That Didn't Suck Today" journal of your own.

You don't need anything fancy.  My Baron Fig notebook would slip in my back pocket if I wanted it to. I usually reach for my Pilot G-2 07mm blue gel pen, but any pen or pencil will do if you're not a stationery snob like I am.  The idea is simplicity and accessibility. 

You're not writing a sonnet every day, either, unless you dig that kind of thing, in which case, probably "Things That Didn't Suck About Today" isn't up your alley.  Just write the day and date and a simple line about what didn't suck about today.  Then close up the book and press on 'til it's time for tomorrow's entry. 

I feel like this acknowledges that we're not really feeling grateful, but we're looking for ways to look for the good instead of dwelling on all the things we can't do during this massive reset of the Matrix. 

If you take umbrage to the Suck, then call your journal an "It Wasn't All Bad" notebook.  Whatever works for you.  This moment in time isn't going to last forever.  Someday, all this quarantine and uncertainty (and yeah, moments of panic) will be a story we tell.  And the more we can remember about how we felt right now will help us feel actual gratitude for not being in this present situation anymore. 

How 'bout it, Babies?  You with me?