Finding Positives

[Jenna]

Hello

Ok so today after a useful meditation in which my mind was fairly calm this morning and I have been able to breathe before responding to things. I got myself out of the office for lunch today and went to sit in a cafe and despite the hustle and bustle of it managed to add to a list of positive things about myself which I started a while ago.

I have also found 4 positive things about the day so far.

I have so much work to do on myself I am finding it overwhelming however, will take one moment at a time.

The list is a start I think

[JonW]

That's great to hear, Jenna.
One moment at a time. That's exactly it.

[piedwagtail91]

what jon said
another good 'positive' is your posts, it's great to read them, you've changed so much in such a short time.

[FeeHutch]

What they said
4 things is a pretty good start and I'm glad you found some space in your day to both practice meditation and also incorporate it through your day.

[Gareth]

One of the exercises in the Breathworks mindfulness course is to intentionally try to look for good things in any experience. If they teach it in their mindfulness courses then it must be a good thing to do eh?

It's a fantastic thing when you can start to take mindfulness from your meditations and start to bring it into your everyday life. Keep up the good work Jenna, I reckon you're a natural.

[piedwagtail91]

like many other courses our handouts have a diary at the back to list one positive experience every day, noting what the experience was, what emotions it brought, body sensations and thoughts.
i think it can help really exploring a pleasant experience.
after a couple of weeks of learning what makes a pleasant experience (thoughts emotions sensations) we introduce both pleasant and unpleasant and explore them both the same way.
by breaking down unpleasant experiences into emotions, thought and sensations it helps to see the 'unpleasantness' in a slightly different, possibly less overpowering way.

[Jenna]

Looking back today they didn't actually help. Unfortunately I do not see little things as positives. Dysthymia makes this hard. When I can see them I don't actually believe in them.

[FeeHutch]

Is there any value in recording the little things anyway so that in the future you will have a record of how far you've come?

Mindfulness is about being present in the moment of course but I've found having something to help me reflect like this has proved useful. For example I was hitting a rough patch in rehab and feeling I wasn't progressing. The team used their notes and wrote me a little time line documenting where I was in January to where I was now. It helped me be more mindful too because when I paid attention I could see I really was getting better.

Just a thought

[Jenna]

Fee

The little things never mean much to me so recording them seems a little pointless but I will continue for a while. The difficulty is I dont ever really believe them and write down things other people would see as positive.

[JonW]

But surely the little things mean everything.
I just sprinkled some bird seed on the table in the garden and watched a beautiful robin peck at it.
Everything.