One thing you can do to prepare for less happy days is create your own Happiness Treasure Chest.
If you make it now, you have something to look at when you need an instant boost of happiness. Gather the “treasures” in a dedicated chest, or even a box will do. Make sure it has room for a lot of happiness content.
Here are some suggestions for treasures to put in the chest:
1. Dedicate a beautiful binder and create different lists to insert:
List of things that give you pleasure
Pleasures give imminent sensory satisfaction. The short-lived happiness these things give you is gone when the things are gone. There are no lingering feelings of satisfaction after the fact. Still, we need pleasures in our lives.
Write a list of your own favorite pleasures.
Examples: Eating one bite of chocolate, linger in a bubble bath, lighting a stick of incent, eating ice cream, sitting in front of a fireplace, having a glass of champagne or getting a long hug from someone you love. Some bodily pleasures don’t even need to be on the list. You will remember them anyway…
A list of things that give you gratification
Gratification is more satisfying and the positive emotions last longer than they do with pleasures. This list can consist of things that you can do to improve your life right now or in the future (go for a walk and enjoy the peace and beauty of the nature around you, spend time with friends, learn a new skill online, pick up a new hobby, make a list of your plans for the future, tidy up your closets, etc.).
Some of these things are not that fun when you are doing them, but the satisfaction will be great when you are done. Even more important actually, is what you can do to help others. This too doesn’t seem like a very attractive option at first, but when it is done, it really boosts your view of yourself and also your satisfaction.
Research shows that people helping someone else are more pleased and happier than those who do something for themselves (shopping, playing a game or watching a movie) that they think will make them happy.
A visualization of your goals and dreams
Visualize your goals and dreams and write them down. Describe a typical day in your ideal life, after you have reached all your dreams and goals, from morning and through to evening. When you read this description and try to imagine what it would be like, you will probably feel better than you did before. And remember, it is the journey to your goal that matters, not the goal itself, since you will soon be over reaching the goal when you get there.
Your own, special bucket list
This is a list of things you want to do before you die. Putting this list in the happiness toolkit box for review might get your spirit up. Start planning on how you can do at least one of the items on the list as soon as possible.
Pictures of your dead heroes
Take a sheet of cardboard and glue pictures of your dead heroes on it. Write as a heading: “They were great, but now they are dead. I AM STILL ALIVE!!!!”
A list of nice, little things you did for others
When you do something nice for others, write it on this list, but keep the list to yourself. Seeing the proof that you are a nice person and helpful to others will make you feel better about yourself.
A list of positive memories and powerful positive thoughts
Write a list of positive thoughts and great memories for times when your head seems empty but for the negative thoughts.
2. Collect things that make you recall great good times
Put little things that mean something positive to you in your happiness toolkit box. Reminiscing about happy times makes you happy in the present.
Photographs of good times
Postcards of places you have been or from people you love
Old tickets to concerts, travels, or other meaningful events
Letters from people you love or care about
Drawings you’ve made or gotten from kids or friends
Poems that give you hope and make you feel good
3. Your old gratitude journals
Writing daily (or often) in a gratitude journal will probably have an impact on your level of happiness, so if you are not doing it already, try it. If you keep your old gratitude journals in this toolkit box, they will help boost your mood and refresh your memory when you look through them.
4. Get a bunch of birthday or Holiday cards
It might be a good idea to buy a bunch of birthday cards or even better; make them yourself with a picture of the birthday child (or adult) on the front.
When you prepare these ahead of time, all you have to do is remember to send them in good time before the birthday of your friends or family members. This will make both them and you feel happier.
A handmade birthday card is nicer to get than only a telephone call or an email.
Have any suggestions for our Happiness Treasure Chest? Don’t hesitate to send them to us.
