Keeping a Positive Piggy Bank
Sometimes our lives are so busy or chronic pain is so dominating that we forget to note and remember the good people, moments and things in life. This little daily activity can help you become more aware of the good things in your life.
How to Create Your Positive Piggy Bank
Find a box or container with a lid or a piggy bank. Place it someplace where you will see it every day. Your pleasant memories will be placed in this container. You will also need some small slips of paper and a pen or pencil.
Every evening, think about the people, things or events for which you are grateful. You may make a list if you like. Pick one of these and spend a moment savoring it. What made it so special to you?
Now, write this moment down on a small piece of paper. Use enough detail that later you will be able to immediately recall what happened. Next, add the date, fold up your grateful memory "currency," and drop it in the piggy bank or container.
You will make these gratitude memory "deposits" in the same way every evening. You may choose for how long you would like to do this. It could be for one week, 30 days or even longer.
At the end of a week, 30 days or however long you chose to keep a positive piggy bank, you will "close your account." This means that you will withdraw all of the "currency" from your piggy bank and read each and every one of the deposited grateful memories.
As you read them, try to recall details of the event and what made it so special to you at the time. Reading your piggy bank account can serve as a "pleasant activity" itself!