The Good in Today: How to Keep Positive Memories Top of Mind

Hey everyone! I want to introduce you to Rebekah Corbitt, a close personal friend of mine.

Beks (that’s what I call her) recently asked if I would be open to a guest post about positive thinking. She told me about a practice she uses to help her focus on the good things that happen every day.

If you’re like most people, it’s all too easy to focus on the one or two bad things that happen in a day, but Beks has a quick, daily practice that will help you see the good in every day, starting today. I loved the idea, and I’m positive you’ll love this post.
——
Take a second to think back on all that has happened in your life this past month. I’m talking about life-changing-big events all the way down to seemingly insignificant blips on your daily radar.

How many of the memories that you thought of were negative? How many were positive? If you were able to remember more negative than positive, you are not alone! (For those of you that came up with a lot of positive examples you get an A+, but keep reading.)

Creating a Positive Plan

A few months ago, I realized that many of the times I looked back into the not-so-distant past, I could easily recall bad days or moments and often forgot the good ones altogether.

I knew that more positive things happened than what my mind was recalling and I also knew my life was full of many wonderful relationships and memorable experiences. The thought of letting my life be ruled by the negative majority wasn’t going to cut it for me.

I knew what was TRUE, even if I couldn’t recall it at the drop of a hat.

As someone who tries to be very intentional about looking on the bright side of every situation, I decided to take a proactive step to help myself remember all the blessings in my life by making a list. I dubbed the list “The GOOD in Today.” Bet you already guessed that.

“The Rules Are, There Are No Rules”

The concept is simple, every day, or every few days I pull out my journal, write the date and think of as many positive things that recently happened in my life that I can.

I don’t limit myself based on the scale either. Which means, in one day I can include finding out my sister is pregnant with her first child, and the very next item on the list can be that I got new shoes, most likely heels, TBH.

I also find that including the smaller items makes me put more value in them. Not in a materialistic way, but an introspective one.

Seriously, Why?

As great as it has been to have a part of my nightly routine include recalling and reliving my day, that was not the driving force for starting to journal my “goods.”  

My actual driving force was the little voice in my head, otherwise named the Chatterbox by Pastor and Author, Steven Furtick. This chatterbox would try to use the fact that I couldn’t easily recall a large number of positive experiences against me, in turn making me feel down and like I don’t do anything with my life or spend as much quality time with friends and family as other people.

This is where the idea for my list was born. What better way to shut down and shut UP this chatter with actual evidence of the contrary that I can go back and read?fter months of recording the good in each day, I’m happy to say that my lists are doing just that: replacing what is not true with what is true – replacing the negative with the positive.

Related: The Power of Positive Thinking: 7 Tips to Conquer Negativity

Want to Give it a Try?

At the end of every day, take some time to write down at least three positive things that happened that day. Don’t get hung up on size. Instead, try to appreciate the smaller things in life and allow yourself to feel the joy.

Give this a try for one week and check in with how you’re feeling. Then, come back here and share your experience in the comments below and internalize
Thanks for reading!

– Rebekah