T.M.I.

Too. Much. Information. That’s how I would describe this generation. Information is ubiquitous. And it’s everywhere. 😉

But that’s not always a good thing. The prevalence of social media makes it hard to tune out the negative messages that sneak in, no matter how much we wish our feed (and our lives) to be filled with cute cats and giggling babies.

Yvie from Homeschool on the Range writes the following guest post about a practice they began with their family to intentionally work together to focus on the positive. I’m inspired by this idea, and by their diligence to stick with it!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly….

Back in January of 2016, after a particularly grueling year, my husband and I decided that it was time for a change.  The primaries and election were going on in America, and unfortunately, as often happens with politics, that brought with it a lot of negativity. We knew we needed to re-center.  We HAD to relearn to focus on the positive side of life.

Connectedness Isn’t Always Better….

With the advent of massive connectivity, negativity now seeps in us from every direction….and it’s pervasive.  Turn on the television, tune into social media, or pick up a paper and you’ll typically be bombarded with negativity. 

Those messages eventually affect our brains, causing us to focus more on the negative … and if they’re doing that to our brains, imagine what they’re doing to our children’s brains!

Birth of a Box…

And so, at the beginning of that new year, the “Friday Box” was born.  Each Friday, everyone was responsible for writing down one good thing (little or big) that they wanted to remember from that week.  The memory could be something as simple as a special lunch out, or a big thing like a fun experience at overnight camp.  It usually falls somewhere in between, and three years into the tradition, there are often two or three memories written down each week! 

Even when we traveled quite a bit on Gypsy Road, we took slips of paper to continue the tradition and then put them into the box once back home.

Sooner Than You’d Think…

After implementing the Friday Box, we began to notice a difference in both our attitudes and our children’s attitudes toward life’s little issues…  Sometimes, we even joke, “Not going in the Friday Box, huh?” in response to a frustrating situation.  It changed the dynamic, lightening things up a bit.

Each year, on the last Friday of December, after filling out our slips, we take turns reading off all of the slips of paper from the box and remembering the good times from the year.  The vast majority of them are about little things, and good times, and we spend well over two hours to focus on the positive moments and just reminisce about the good times we’ve experienced together.  

I want to remember the good times…the smiles & giggles, not the frustrations.  The “Friday Box” tradition is here to stay at our house.  Will you start it at yours?

Yvie practices the art of simple living with her chickens, goats, dogs, rabbits, and house full of boys in rural America.  She loves accoustic guitar, historical novels, and anything with dark chocolate!  You can find her at Homeschool On the Range, or on Facebook and Instagram.