As mentioned in my previous post I first started this journey in 2018 with what I called my Happiness Journey. The idea came after a rather rough year in 2017 where I was so focused on helping others that I did not properly take care of my own needs. I ended up becoming vulnerable and open to the negativity that was causing anxiety and depression.

So I set myself a challenge as a New Year’s resolution starting January 1^st I would create a daily post in Facebook focusing on what made me happy that day regardless of how insignificant it was. Adding to the daily post was a journal that my mother got me that allowed me to make weekly lists of the things that made happy in my life.

After doing the challenge for a couple of months I found that getting into a positive mindset and staying in that mindset became easier and easier. Even if there was a day or two that I forgot to post I went back and thought about those days and created posts for them anyway. I did not give myself any excuses. So the Album which I will link at the bottom of this blog has over 365 posts.

I ended the posts on December 31^st, 2018 and I have since learned a very valuable lesson.

Don’t stop! Keep going with that positive reinforcement. Just because it gets easier doesn’t mean that it the positivity will stay if you stop with the reinforcement. You allow yourself to go back to old habits, on dwelling on the negative. We have to stick with it every day, and why would we not? We all want to be happy and life is so much better when that is your focus.

There are so many ways to engage in positive reinforcement and you should do what works best for you. For some it’s Prayer, praying for the things you are grateful for, write in a journal or in my case I also mixed in a Happiness Bag where I kept little things that remind me every day of the things that make me happy.