4 Ways To Boost Positivity in 2017 | Self Care Sunday

{ Self-care Sunday, volume two }

Something I struggle to maintain is the feeling of positivity. I'm not sure if it's just a bad habit or if it's a trait hard-wired into my DNA but I can be quite a negative, cynical person and I know it's hurting me a lot more than it's helping. Over the next few years I hope to take significant steps towards becoming a more positive person and today, for my next instalment of Self-Care Sunday, I thought I'd share a few little things I'll be trying this year to aid that.


The Happy Jar.
I've only kept up with a Happy Jar once in my life (after seeing it on Daisybutter way back when) but it's something I want to fit into my night routine from now on. The premise is simple: just get a jar (mine's from Ikea), some paper and a pen and set it up on your dresser / bookcase / windowsill. Each night take a slip of paper and write down one happy thing that happened that day, fold up the paper and pop it into the jar... and continue doing that every day until New Years, when you'll empty the jar and read through all of the happy memories!

Journal.
You can interpret this point in whichever way you'd like. I personally like to keep up with a habit tracker & mini calendar that I scribble, bullet-journal style, into an A5 notebook, but you could fully commit and write a reflective paragraph about your day each evening. Other ideas for journals include a "Things I Wish I'd Said" journal or a "Negative Things" journal in which you'd jot down every little thing that annoyed you or upset you in order to relieve yourself of it. Getting it out of your mind and onto paper where you can safely stash it away means it'll take up less space in your now.
Never go too long without watching a sunset.
Quite straight-forward, really, but I find watching sunsets a very humbling and grounding experience. Just take ten minutes out of your day to watch nature do it's thing and appreciate, in awe, the beautiful colours and the quiet, even if it's out of a window. My favourite place to watch the sun set is on the beach (the Burnham or Brean Sands beaches specifically) but they're not massively convenient for me and I only get to watch it there once or twice a year. Instead I've been wandering my local area to find the best spots and it's been going pretty well, as you can see from the photo above!  

Make your bedroom a nice place to be.
This is the most difficult thing for me to keep up with but it's something that drastically effects my mood. If my bedroom is messy, there's clothes on the floor, my bookcase is disorganised and I've left glasses of water in the window I literally cannot stand to be in there other than to sleep. My mind is constantly whirring thinking that I need to tidy up when I should instead be relaxing and because of this I avoid my bedroom most of the time. I've worked really hard on my décor the past few years and make an effort to surround myself with photos of my family and Luna, as well as pretty quotes and art prints. I find my décor incredibly inspiring but I can't channel it when my room's a mess! I also like to have pretty bedding and comfy, cosy pillows and blankets to burrow under when I'm sad and a few nicely scented candles to light on an evening.

Well, those are some ideas to get us all started! I actually had so many ideas for this post that I had to split it in two so there will be another round of positivity coming your way sometime in the near future. In the mean time allow this Self-Care Sunday post to inspire you to set aside at least fifteen minutes for yourself today - you deserve it, b.

10 comments

  1. Aw these are such beautiful ways to feel more positive. Thanks so much for the ideas!

    Beckie || The Pale Tails

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  2. i love this post. i came back to university and i was in such a slump! so i redecorated and moved furniture around and now I'm so content and cosy haha!
    jen | velvet spring x

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  3. I really like these ideas! I've been journalling more regularly recently, not only does writing down my thoughts at the end of the day help a lot but sometimes it also leads to new ideas for an upcoming blogpost :) Sunsets are one of the most beautiful things ever. Just looking up at the sky in general always makes me feel a lot calmer x

    Sara’sChapters

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  4. Such a lovely post, filled with lots of positive things! I love my journal, and I also really appreciate watching the sunsets on my drive home from work at the moment x

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  5. Love this - it's the little things like this that make you instantly feel better :)

    Fatima x www.fatima-writes.blogspot.co.uk

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  6. Ugh! The bedroom thing is so true! My bedroom is currently a mess of various handbags and items of clothing sprawled across the floor, and it honestly makes me feel like such a slob. No wonder I can't get anything productive done! Clean my room, and positivity will soon follow, right?

    -M
    The Life of Little Me @thelyfoflittleme.blogspot.com

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  7. I have a positive and negative jar in my room. In the end of the year I'm going to to through my negative jar first and then read all of my positive moments of the year. ♥

    mooeyandfriends.blogspot.com

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  8. I love this and I'm excited for your future self care sunday posts! I find keeping a journal and writing out all my ~not so positive~ thoughts really helps me feel a lot lighter and positive! like taking out my trash thought. I always seem to miss the sunset and have never intentionally gone somewhere to watch it, but that sounds so nice and calming (especially at the beach)
    rosario // rosarioverse xoxo

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  9. great tips I think the happy jr is a wonderful idea!
    x,abril
    The Color Palette

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  10. Love this post! The happy jar idea is wonderful - and I love journaling! I'm making self-care a priority this year, and I know I can be prone to being a negative person, so I'll be using your tips here to help me feel more positive! x www.aimeeraindropwrites.co.uk x

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