I keep a small notebook for the good stuff now

I realized I was only writing down appointments and to-do lists, never the small wins or nice moments. So about a year ago, I bought a little pocket notebook from the drugstore. Every few days, I jot down one specific thing that made me smile, like my neighbor's dog finally letting me pet him or finding a five dollar bill in an old coat. It sounds silly, but flipping through it on a bad day really helps. Does anyone else do something simple like this to hold onto the good bits?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_tyler2mo ago

That's a really solid idea, but I'd say it's the opposite of silly. I started a similar thing on my phone's notes app maybe three years back. The trick for me was writing it down the same day, because if I wait a few days like you said, I totally blank on the specific little win. It has to be fresh, like writing down that I finally fixed the squeaky cabinet door right after I did it.

piper7791mo ago

Nah, I'm with Wesley on this one. Waiting a few days shows you what actually mattered to you. If you can't remember a specific win after 48 hours, it probably wasn't that important. The squeaky cabinet door thing might feel huge in the moment, but a week from now you won't care about it. I'd rather have five things on my list that I genuinely remember and mean something than twenty random tiny things I scribbled down just to fill a page. The noise gets filtered out either way, might as well let time do the work for you.

the_wesley2mo ago

Waiting a few days can actually help you see what really mattered. The stuff you forget probably wasn't that big of a win anyway. It filters out the noise so you only remember the good stuff.

amy_anderson2mo ago

My kitchen whiteboard has a "win of the day" spot. I put "called the dentist" on Tuesday. By Friday I'd forgotten that anxiety entirely, which proved Wesley's point. The stuff that sticks, like finally organizing the junk drawer, feels more true. The small stress wins just fade away.