One week down in the happiness series, and if I’m honest, this week began with me being fairly skeptical. I’m decently busy most days and don’t really think about much besides what I’m doing next within my day. So just the act of writing down things that make me grateful didn’t seem like something that would make a large impact on my overall happiness.

Though I can’t say my mood changed drastically from day to day because of the activity, certain aspects did have a minor impact. Writing down things I’m grateful for within the day and in general really did nothing for me.

I think this is partially because I’m only doing it for a week, and more consistency may create a bigger effect. Though it was a nice change of pace, as I never do this, it seemed to go in one ear and out the other very quickly. However, looking forward to something for tomorrow did seem to have a slight impact.

Some of my entries included things as simple as getting a coffee in the morning. That sounds a bit dumb, but it definitely helped me get up in the morning. On Thursday night, I knew my Friday was going to suck — optimistic, I know — but because I looked forward to seeing a movie that night it really made the day fly by. So while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the first part of the activity, looking forward to the next day may actually be a helpful way of thinking.