For Christmas, one of my brothers gifted me a small beautiful book called a Five Year Memory book.  On each page is the date of every day of the month from January through December, with five mini sections in which you are meant to write one interesting memory from that date over the course of five years.

It’s a neat idea,to have a record of the different things you did each year on the same date… But for some reason, the thought of trying to keep something like this going over such a long period seemed boring!  So I came up with an alternative – I decided to give each of the sections an important subject and at the end of each day before I go to sleep, I fill in something for each of them.

Gratitude

This is the first one and I fill in as many different things as I can think of to feel appreciation for, from my darling husband to my healthy body to my freedom and independence, to yoga, to having a clean warm home to live in… It’s a moment to remember some of the things I normally take for granted and it always fills me up with contentment realizing the abundance in my life.

Happy Memory

This is a funny one for me – at the beginning it was quite hard some days to come up with anything!  It made me start paying more attention, noticing the small special moments such as a cuddle with the dog, chatting to my husband on the phone, giggling at a funny movie or anything that brings me a feeling of delight, however small.  Just thinking about this has made me pay more attention to my life and question how I’m living.  Would I have an easier time finding more happy memories to write down if I had a different life-style, a different job, or if I simply looked at life differently?  Maybe the moments are already there…

Job Well Done

This one I added on as a small extra and it’s often just a short line in one of the other sections since there are only five and I have six topics.  I am a person who is highly self-critical, constantly listening to an internal barrage of complaints and disapproval over things I should have done better.  I decided it was high-time to balance that with some praise and approval for any little thing that I might have done well.  It could be that I chose a healthy salad for lunch, did my yoga, helped out a friend, did the housework or got up early and wrote my book…  My inner critic doesn’t always let me get away with such minor victories, expecting slightly higher standards (perhaps climbing Mt. Everest or saving an entire city – and those are only mild exaggerations) so sometimes this one doesn’t always work.  But I keep doing it in the hope that over time, just like a stream wearing down rock, loving kindness will wear down that internal task master of mine.

Lesson Learned

In this topic, I write down something I learned from the day.  It could have been during yoga, an interaction with someone or any event that made me think a little differently about myself or life.  For example, one day I caught myself reacting with automatic negativity during my yoga practice, but I saw it with full awareness and in a verydifferent light to normal.  I understood how trapped we often are in old unhelpful reactionary habits and how developing awareness is the key to changing them.  That was a particularly precious gem!  Simply having the little motivation to look for lessons about myself or about life is another way to pay more attention throughout my day.  And paying more attention might help me find more of those happy memories…

Plans

Here I list small jobs, things I either need to do (like paying the car tax or replying to a friend’s message) or that I’ve been meaning to do for ages (such as going horse riding, heading to the beach on my day off, organizing my messy wardrobe..).  The interesting thing about doing this little one is that if I don’t actually do the next day (which can often happen) then I end up writing them again the next night, and the one after that and the one after that again…. which gets kind of boring!  That makes me do them just so that I don’t have to keep writing it down each night! And being more productive takes away the niggling thoughts of ‘oh, I really should get this done’ which leaves more space and room for happiness to flow.

Dreams

This is the final section where I allow my heart run wild and express absolutely anything that she might like, realistic or not, things such as owning a beautiful villa with a pool in the south of France or being paid to travel the world or swimming with dolphins or becoming a best-selling writer… They can be much simpler too like being able to afford a small home for me and my husband, having a newer (less battered!) car, having the extra time and money to write every day… It really doesn’t matter what it is, the point is that it’s a chance for me to acknowledge the dreams that fill me with joy and excitement.  And by writing them down, I’m also reminding my sceptical subconscious that it’s ok to dream because sometimes they can actually come true and that of course, makes me feel extremely happy!

So there you have it, this is my new nightly ritual.  Since I already have my regular morning yoga practice, it seems nice to do something special to end the day also.  They have boosted my overall appreciation for the life I live and most interestingly for me, they have helped me become more focussed and brought more clarity about how I would really like to live my life, the changes I would like to implement, the direction I’d like to move in…  I’m only three weeks into it but I have a feeling that down the line, it could bring about some interesting changes in my life!

Wishing everyone a year full of hope and promise and much love.

Om Shanti

Ellie