3 Things

Living in today's society can be a nightmare at times. School is hard, "adulting is hard, and people suck. It can be extremely easy to focus on all of the negatives in life and to dwell on them. Many times when something bad happens, that unfavorable event is one that might stick with you more than a positive time.

I personally have been experiencing this a lot in college, and I feel as if many college students can relate. There are a million things going on each and every day, friends and relationships come and go, you make mistakes and many times get into trouble. It can be very hard to experience so many negative events at such a stressful time in your life yet still maintain a positive attitude and be thankful for the good things, which brings me to the topic of this blog: gratitude.

Being thankful for the things we do have is something that most people like to think that they do. Although, chances are anyone who takes the time to sit back and reflect on all of the positive things they have in their life will come across some (if not many) that they take for granted. This is something I have come across frequently in the past semester, but really hit me a couple of weeks ago. I was awake at 2:00am working on homework and I realized just how bad of a mood I was in. I was tired, crabby, upset, anxious, everything under the sun that led me to feel so low.

At that point I realized that I had been feeling that way for a while, I had only been focusing on all of the bad and stressful things I was going through instead of remembering the good things I have. It was then when I decided to start the "3 Things" challenge that I had learned about in one of my psychology classes. For the next couple of weeks I created a section in my notebook and made it a priority to writing down 3 things I am grateful for every day.

Completing this exercise daily helped me to recognize the little things and just how much I have to be thankful for. Life is always going to have its ups and downs, but remembering to appreciate the little things can make a big difference in your overall attitude. I have continued writing things down before bed every night, and have already noticed a positive change in my happiness. Though this exercise may not work for everyone, I strongly encourage anyone who may be struggling with stress or life satisfaction to give it a shot, you might be surprised.