Wellness Wednesdays with Diana: Your Weekly Dose of Happiness, Nutrition and Fitness Tips
The “Have a Good Day” Exercise
“Does your necklace say Jean?”
I’m a 5’2” Middle-Eastern girl; I definitely could not pull off a name like Jean. My necklace says Dream.
I wear this mantra around my neck because in my greatest moments of self-doubt, when I’m staring into the mirror and wondering what I’m doing with my life, I remember that strange, age-old human tendency to dream. And I don’t mean dream in the sky-is-the-limit, bumper sticker, childhood definition Disney Channel so successfully spoon-fed me. I define dream as the ability to foresee something better coming to fruition. It’s the ability to stare into the future, and see that life has a series of “good days” in store for you. My necklace reminds me that I have at least some say in how well my day goes.
This week’s wellness exercise is what positive psychologists are calling: “Have a Good Day.” You know, after that expression you say to gracefully conclude an awkward conversation on Locust. Or it’s the last thing you hear before ending an angry phone call with Comcast’s customer service rep.
The first step in this exercise involves determining your idea of a good day. Analyze your past couple of days or if you’re up for a challenge, your past week. Which days were better than others? Jot down the specific, concrete activities that tended to make or break each day. It could be that a good day is one in which you talk to a family member on the phone, or maybe it’s a day when you accomplish an athletic or academic goal. Some may derive enjoyment from solitude while others thrive on companionship; time well spent varies depending on whom you’re asking.
The idea is to identify these factors so you can have more days in which you engage in the activities that make you happy. According to the late psychologist Dr. Christopher Peterson—most noted for his contributions to the founding of positive psychology—this exercise helps you do more of what makes you happy by encouraging you to systematically explore and record the features of a good day. It’s simple, but it works. When I analyzed my good days and compared them to my bad days, I found that how I consumed my meals—alone or with friends—was correlated with how my day would turn out. So I took my finding to the next level and applied it by resolving to eat, at least once a day, with someone I love.
So what’s holding you back? Sure, writing three good things every night and taking the time to analyze your week is time-consuming. But so is dwelling. Where are you investing your time and effort, if you don’t allocate part of your day toward wellness?
Peterson did not subscribe to the “I don’t have time for x” school of thought, and neither should you.
“I spent my adult years postponing many of the small things that I knew would make me happy,” he revealed in A Primer in Positive Psychology.
“I was fortunate enough to realize that I would never have time unless I made the time. And then the rest of my life began.”
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!