Tonight, I will move my forty- third marble in as many days. One act, day after day. Moving a marble is as simple as it sounds, but it's much more!
For the last forty-three days I’ve moved a marble from one mason jar to the next. It was recommended from the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear. (I highly recommend reading it.)
To move a marble, you have to write one positive thought about your day on a piece of paper. I prefer a pirate looking journal. (It’s the simple motivations.) As a reward, you move a marble.
The task sounds mundane. But the tiny act of moving a marble each night has had remarkable results. For the first time in my life, I’ve been constantly journaling. I’ve also noticed I’m much happier. Seeing the marble tower grow helps me visualize my good habit and mindset. Because I’m developing this good habit, it shows in my attitude in and outside of my home and at work.
What was supposed to be one thought has quickly become a page long of sentences, bullet points, and doodles. Because I’ve been journaling for forty-three straight days, that’s 43 days of positivity! Let me repeat that, 43 days of happiness, laughter, and history!
Let’s be honest, not every day has been a happy one. But now I find at least one thing (usually many more) that were positives in my day. It doesn’t have to take a miracle to make it into my journal. Making my bed, reading my daily devotion, eating a breakfast at my dinner table are habits I do daily that usually get added. Then I add thoughts like, “laughed a funny joke a student told me”, “ate pepperoni pizza tonight”, “ran 3 miles”, or “went to the beach.” If it made my day better, I add it.
I have one rule: no negative thoughts. For me it’s very easy to get caught up in the drama of a hard day’s work. When I find this journal hiding in my attic after seven years I don’t want to read about the negatives my life. I rather read about all the happy times I had and how I found littlest moments of sunshine. I’ll already know when a day was difficult by reading the date and recalling. No need to remind myself. This current journal has 124 pages. Which means I’ll have 124 days of positives! That’s a lot …and a lot of marbles.
Marbles signify my daily habit journaling. Journaling signifies my habit of writing positives. Writing positives signifies my growth mindset. My growth mindset visualizes this through the tower of marbles growing daily in my mason jar. Simple!
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