Last Few Days Of The Goodie Jar
Posted by terrepruitt on December 28, 2016
So we are in the last few days of the year. 2016. I am seeing so many posts on Facebook about what a terrible year this has been and the majority of those posts have been associated with the fact that a celebrity has died. Yes, I, too, feel sorrow when someone has died even when it is someone as distant from me as a celebrity. I certainly feel loss and sorrow when someone close to me, like my father, has died. It was so unexpected I am still, as times, unbelieving of the fact. But I don’t condemn the whole year. There has been a lot of things that have happened in 2016 that have been sad or could be considered “bad”. But there are a lot of things that have transpired or a lot of things that I experienced that were good things. Things I wrote down so that the big sad/bad things are not allowed to take over. So, I am not ending the year saying 2016 was a bad year and I am glad to see it go.
When “bad” things happen, I don’t condemn the whole time in which they happened. I wrote about something like that in my post I Had One Of THOSE Days. I don’t think the day is bad when things go “wrong”. I don’t think the whole year is bad because many of the celebrities from my childhood have died. I don’t think 2016 is a bad year because my dad died. It is just a year. Things happened. Good things. Bad things. Whatever the label. The things that happened are just moments in time. There are so many things that transpire.
We are still doing our Goodie Jar or Good Things Jar. This is our fourth year. We have been writing down the things that make us smile or we have saved a ticket to a show or game, then we put it in a jar. Right now it is not actually a jar but a Christmas dish. We have a few more days left to add things to it. Traditionally, we have read it on New Year’s Eve, but this year we might actually do it on New Year’s Day – depending upon the timing of things, we will have to see. But the same principle applies. We are going to read through the notes, printouts, tickets stubs, whatever we used to remind us of all the good things that happened throughout the year. To be reminded of all the things that made us smile. Then we will be smiling again. So it is like a double smile. All of these things are what makes life good. All of these things, all of these smiles are what makes us able – make us strong enough – to deal with the “bad” things.
That doesn’t mean we can’t cry or lie around and mope for a few days . . . but it does mean that we can’t ignore or belittle all of the great things that happen in our lives. This just helps keep us anchored and steady. The Good Thing Jar is needed sometimes.
In the past our jar has been filled with notes about my Nia students, my yoga students, our cats, our niece, our jobs, our friends, the weather, our house, our food, all the things we are blessed with, all the things that make us smile. Oh! I can’t wait.
So what about you? Do you have any good things that you can reflect upon that happened in 2016?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Carol Hamilton said
Thank you for introducing me to this “system” several years ago, Terre. I too am looking forward to reading all the notes in our goodie bowl.
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terrepruitt said
Yay! I am too! It is a fun way to “walk down memory lane”.
Thanks for letting me know you are doing it still, too! XO
Happy New Year, Carol!
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Jay said
I’m relieved to hear someone else say this. I was starting to feel weird about it!
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terrepruitt said
🙂 You are not alone.
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