Wellness Wednesdays with Diana: Your Weekly Dose of Happiness, Nutrition and Fitness Tips
Three Blessings: A ten-minute exercise that will boost your happiness.
A looming deadline. A rejection email bearing “Thank you for applying to X company” in the subject head. You check your phone and there are no texts from the one person you were hoping would text you. Or worse, your parents call you up and ask what you want to do with your life post-graduation.
Sigh. You’re having one of those Mindy Lahiri crying-on-the-floor moments, even when you know for a fact you and your roommates haven’t cleaned that floor since that St. Patty’s day party.
The day-to-day collegiate life can be overshadowed by so many irritations that ruin your day. But you just can’t let that happen—not if I can help it. Ruminating on the little things that aren’t working out can distract us from seeing the bigger picture and appreciating the many things that are going well in our lives.
One of the ways you can zoom out and evaluate your day more holistically is by reflecting on the highlights. Before going to bed, write three good things that happened that day and why you think they happened. It could be a major achievement like scoring the final touchdown and earning your school an Ivy League championship title. But it could be a lot simpler. Maybe the Starbucks barista finally—after three years of exotic variations—spelled your name correctly on your pumpkin spice latte. Maybe your Sweet Green salad finally had the ideal kale-to-romaine ratio. Maybe your GrubHub order was ten minutes early. Whatever it is, I know it happened: there’s good in everyday, I’m convinced, and it’s up to you to rack your brain every night in search of these highlights.
And I’m not just saying this to give you more homework. I was first introduced to this “trick” last year when I enrolled in Angela Duckworth’s coveted class, PSYC266: Positive Psychology. While I certainly did not ace those exams (multiple choice exams are just not my thing, guys), I left her class a happier person. She introduced us to a study conducted by Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson in 2005. They found that counting your blessings not only increases your happiness, but also decreases depression symptoms. These positive effects persisted for up to six months since the first day participants began this nightly exercise.
So what’s holding you back? Do it! Go to sleep a happier person. Try it, at least once, for me. No, try it for you. Actually…try it for our beloved Pennsylvania’s founding father, William Penn who said: “The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.” Except I want to amend this quote a little: I’m encouraging you to take this to the next level by becoming a catalyst to happiness in your community. Next time you see someone “adding up troubles,” share this fun exercise with them! Create a domino effect of happiness on your campus, and don’t forget to check back on Wednesday for next week’s wellness tip! Finish this week strong, collegiettes!
Diana Gonimah is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania from Cairo, Egypt. She is a writer, Features Editor, and Recruiting Chair at the UPenn chapter of Her Campus. She’s passionate about psychology, journalism, creative writing, and helping people in any capacity. Check our website every Wednesday for Diana’s column!