“What Went Well?”

Three little words.  Three very simple words.  And they have become a part of my vocabulary over the past month.

I know about Gratitude lists; I have kept gratitude journals, I have gone through phases of writing things down.  I have trouble sticking to it.  But one little app – and a 5 year old daughter who listened to it with me while I was picking her up from school one day – has made some real inroads in our daily interactions and communication in my family.

The App in the ITunes App Store is called “The Gratitude Habit: a Happiness Workshop.”  It is short. It is real. and it basically shows the power of three little words – and a way to use them.  The app is free to download, and they ask a small contribution if you found value in it.  I will post a picture here so you know what it looks like when you see it.

Every day when I pick my daughter up at school, it is a game with us to ask “What are your 3 things that went well?”  We do it again at the dinner table when I then have her ask her father what went well in HIS day, and we end up repeating our own. 

There is a power in not only saying out loud something that went well, but in sharing it with someone else.  It is a sharing of positive energy.  It is a kind of prayer for me.  I become grateful not only for the good that happened to me, but for the good that happened with my daughter and husband.  And that power can change you.  It grounds you. It shines a light through the dark.

I would recommend the application to anyone, especially anyone struggling with a dark time, depression, or just a lack of contentment in their lives.  The concepts are simple, but the possibilities are endless.

So I ask you – What went well today?  What are your three things?