Happiness Jar Challenge

"A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes." 

-Mahatma Gandhi

James' happiness jar.

As we roll through the holiday season and sail into the next year, I have a challenge for you.  Start your very own happiness jar!

Happiness Jar???  Well that sounds quite odd.

Oh, I know, believe me, but stay with me here...

All you do is you take an empty mason jar, label it as your happiness jar and decorate it however you'd like.  Each day you write down one positive thing that happened, fold up this piece of paper and add it to your happiness jar.  This doesn't necessarily have to be an action, it could be a good thought you had, someone unexpected smiled at you, etc.  Just something positive.  If you can't do this each day, do it every other day or every week, or every other week or every month.  Just whenever you're able to and it helps if the jar is placed somewhere visible where you'll see it each day.  Then at the end of the year, preferably on New Years Eve, you fire up your firepit, grab your jar and you pull out the pieces of paper one by one, read it, re-live that moment, then cast it off into the fire.  This is incredibly fun to do and is the best way I've found of ending a new year and starting a new one.  If you have kids, this could be a really fun family activity while reinforcing positive thoughts.  In the words of Qigong Master Mingtong Gu, "Positive thoughts are like teflon and negative thoughts are like velcro."  Good things that happen go in one ear and out the other while negative things that happen our minds hold onto like there's no tomorrow.  Having a way of reinforcing and remembering those positive things that have happened is just a good thing to do.  Have fun creating your own happiness jar as well as your own unique ceremony at the end of the year to commemorate all of the positive things that have happened!

Firepit going strong - 2021.