======= Date Modified 31 19 2009 16:19:13 =======
A new form of diary writing taken from the book "59 seconds: think a little, change alot. by Prof. Richard Wiseman".

Write the diary entry accordingly to which day it is. I hope you will join in! “Research suggests that you will quickly notice the difference in mood and happiness and that these changes may persist for months. If you feel the effects wearing off, simply repeat the exercise again”.

diary descriptions taken from book (p20)

"MONDAY: THANKSGIVING.

Think back over the past week and list three things you are grateful for.
(close friends, supportive family, good health, roof over your head, having enough to eat. happy memories of past, lovely cup of coffee, smile of a stranger, your dog welcoming you home, eaten a great meal, stopped to smell flowers.
1.
2.
3.


TUESDAY: TERRIFIC TIMES:

think about one of the most wonderful experiences in your life. perhaps a moment when you listened to an amazing piece of music, saw a performance, or had a great time with friends. choose just one experience, and imagine yourself back in that moment in time, imagine how you felt and what was going on around you. now spend a few moments writing down a description of that experience and how you felt. dont worry about spelling, or grammer. simply commit your thoughts to [electronic] paper"


WEDNESDAY: FUTURE FANTASTIC:


spend few moments writing about your life in the future. imageine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. be realistic, but imagine you have worked hard and achieved all your goals. imagine you have become the person you really want to be and your personal and professional life feels like a dream come true. all of this may not help you achieve your goals, but will help you feel good and put a smile on your face.


THURSDAY: DEAR....


think about someone in your life who is very important to you. it might be your partner, close friend, family member. imagine you only have one opportunity to tell this person how important they are to you. now write a short letter to this person. describing how much you care for them and the impact they have had on your life."

FRIDAY: REVIEWING THE SITUATION

think back over the past 7 days and make a note of 3 things that went really well for you. The events might be fairy trivial, such as finding a parking space, or more important such as being offered a new job or opportunity.

======= Date Modified 28 Jul 2009 22:46:10 =======
since it's tuesday today. I am submitting my entry for both monday and tuesday together: here's my entry :-)

Monday : Thanksgiving

1. My good health and being pain free

2. my brother giving me a brand new tennis racket that he says will help improve my game

3. having enough and yummy food to eat

Tuesday : Terrific times
Bruce springsteen concert at crystal palace. It was a beautiful summers day, i was with my brother and his two friends. It was blue sky all around. And we were standing close to the stage. It was an amazing experience. Because we were standing right infront of the band that my brother and I grew up listening to. Bruce Springsteen sang 'waitin on a summers day' and even though i didn’t quite know the words i still sang along merrily as the whole crowd did. I felt really happy and content. And for that moment, the world just disappeared and it was just us - the crowd and Bruce and his band. And music all around us.

"Wednesday Diary entry: write about your Future.

"Future fantastic
Spend a few moments writing about your life in the future. Imagine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. Be realistic, but imagine that you have worked hard and achieved all your goals. Imagine you have become the person you really want to be, and your personal and professional life feels like a dream come true. All of this may not help you achieve your goals, but will help you feel good and put a smile on your face".

Hi Lara,

Thanks for taking the time to post all that and I think I'm going to give it a try!

Monday: thanksgiving

1. Seeing my little brother who has come up to stay for the week.
2. Meeting a nice young man : )
3. Getting positive feedback on a chapter I was terrified about.

Tuesday: terrific times.

The one that springs to mind is also a concert. It was very recently actually. I saw Florence and the Machine at Oxegen festival. She's quite new but I have been obsessed with her music for a good few months now. I remember being in the tent waiting to see her and it was absolutely rammed, which was weird because she's not very well known and there were some big bands playing at the same time elsewhere. When she came on the whole crowd sang along to every word. I got up on my friend's shoulders to watch her. It was such a moment: this young woman on the cusp of making it big and us all there who had been touched by her music.

(up)

Hi I didn't get the Thursday and Friday bits here below.. ?? Anyway, trying...

Monday:

(1) My being in good health and all near and dear ones so too
(2) My having had the dearest darling of a granny who brought me up when parents pursued jobs and who till today, blind at at 86 is waiting for me to visit.
(3) My having a relentless ambition that lets me get up at least one more time than the number of times I fall.

Tuesday:

My grandest memory takes me back to the age of 17. AT 9.15 am, on a winter morning in 2002, when i carried my school flag as a 17 year old, leading a group of 1000 girls, as Head Girl, taking the oath at investiture, leading the march past and looking up into the blue sky, knowing my parents are there in the crowd of parents, holding the flag up so high, and thinking I couldn't ever be prouder.


Wednesday:

Future? I see myself looking into a future where I write. write and write. RAE? Publication files? No, just write, from my heart, for my subject, and discover new unanswered questions every time I feel I have answered my intellectual concerns.

To just write, write and write..


Sorry if I got this wrong Lara, at 1 am, but am feeling a little bit better than the last two days, and the last couple of hours. (I have been most unlike myself, not my usual forward-going, sometimes bossy and demanding self, but a weepy and slightly demotivated person).


PS: Just got these new signature quotes:

"If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.”.. Henry Longfellow

"“It always seems impossible until its done.”.. Nelson Mandela

ok, here goes....

Monday: thanksgiving

1) me and my family are all happy and healthy
2) my new kitchen floor which was laid yesterday that i LOVE!
3) I've been learning new recipes and testing them out all week, and most of them turned out pretty good!

Tuesday:
my bf and i went to New York in Jan for my birthday, and we went on a boat trip to see the statue of liberty. it was -14C and i was freezing, but it was such a beautiful clear day, the hudson was nearly completely frozen over, and we could see the plane that had crashed into the river the day before, and i just felt lucky to be alive i guess, if that's not too cheesy!

Wednesday:
my future self will be writing from home, dog at my feet, kids at school somewhere, husband at work, and i will be working communicating science to a wider audience, and getting people interested in what i am writing about! i may not be making any amazing scientific discoveries myself, but i will be working to make sure that other people's work does not go unnoticed by the world.

ps. just wanted to add, glad you are feeling better PhdBug!! you seem to work so hard all the time, its ok to sometimes admit you need some time off and let yourself take a break now and then!! ;-)

Thanks smoobles, well, not better really, pretty down still. I think this was a signal that I should slow down and I also think it will take me some more time to get back to my usual self!

I have enjoyed reading the responses, very uplifting.  Heres my contribution...

Mon - thanksgiving
1. 3 healthy and happy children
2.  My husband, hes my rock
3. Chocolate, thank goodness for chocolate

Tues - Terrific times
Having the opportunity to do a PhD, boring but true, I come from a family background where no one is very educated, and there was not any expectation for me to do anything other than get married; so achieving my BSc Hons was amazing, then passing my MSc was fantastic, and now I'm studying a doctorate - truly awesome!!  I never set out to get a PhD, its been one small step at a time, so I am thoroughly enjoying this experience - 'lots of small steps for me = one giant leap for me!'

Wed - Future
Well, I enjoy lecturing, so I will continue to do that part-time, would like to do some more research and it would be cool to publish a couple of things - just keeping it realistic - but who knows....
:-)

A very uplifting thread indeed.

Wednesday: I imagine myself in a house piled high to the rafters with books; a dusty old academic but with a fun-filled life behind me.I will have spent my life studying the one thing I have always had a talent for and the thing I love: literature. I will have hopefully published a couple of academic texts and maybe even a couple of not-so academic novels. I will have travelled, and painted. I will have lots of good friends and a happy family around me.

======= Date Modified 31 Jul 2009 16:24:11 =======
======= Date Modified 30 Jul 2009 16:12:20 =======
oh wow what a lovely suprise, :) nice to read everyones entries! good on you people for joining in! and thank you so much for the lovely kind words about this thread!!! put a big smile on my face!
_
keep_calm, thank you so much! and hi*5 on the concerts!!

i also read in the book that its better spending money on EXPERIENCES than material objets. experiences make us feel happier, rather than materialistic things. its the whole social aspect of it. when you're out on a concert for eg, or out having dinner with friends, you are around people having fun, and then later on you can socialise more by telling other people about it. you cant get as much fun out of telling people about that new dress you bought.hehe. OMG you saw florence and the machine, I LOVE THEM! i was waiting all year last year for their album. and its awesome well worth the wait! you're so lucky to have seen her!

yah i've been obsessed with her music since last summer! :) at the moment i have HOWL on repeat hehe
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phdbug! nice to have you join in :) aww wow your Granny sounds like an amazing person :) brought a tear to my eye! glad you are feeling better PhdBug! :) like those quotes!
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awww I love the great memories entries. its like those old movies, when people tell their stories of their past :)
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Smoobles! nice to have you join us !! i also love cooking! and testing out new recipes
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Java and keepcalm- I couldnt agree with you more. i also find the entries very inspiring and uplifting :) thanks guys!

thanks everyone for joining in. thats made me feel very happy!!
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okay here is my wednesday entry.
I imagine myself in a job that i really enjoy. I will have gotten my phd so everyone in my life can stop asking me when i'm going to finish my phd lol. I imagine myself working in a museum, in the natural history museum, or perhaps having a career change from science. having great collegues. i imagine having weekends to spend time with my friends and having fun, and not feeling guilty about enjoying myself at the weekend. I imagine going on great holidays, i will be earning money, so can afford great trips and seeing the world :-) I imagine volunteering for childline in my spare time, alongside my job.
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thursday entry. Dear...
Dear Mum. Thank you for being the most amazing mum I could wish for. You have always been so caring and always put everyone else infront of you. You would always give us the bigger piece of chicken, and give yourself the small piece. thank you for your support especially when i wanted to chuck in my phd. thank you for telling me that it will NOT be the end of the world if god forbid i completely muck up my viva and fail my phd. thank you for telling me that its okay to do my best and whatever happens its not the end of the world. as i needed to hear that because i was feeling suicidal if i ever failed my phd. thank you for looking after me and taking care of me. and always being selfless. thank you for your 100% support always. i couldnt dream of a better mum :)

======= Date Modified 31 Jul 2009 16:25:10 =======
Friday entry. reviewing the situation. 3 things that went really well for me from past 7 days

1. getting an email from the powers that be, telling me that my examiners for my viva have been confirmed.

2. getting to the cinema on time with just a couple of minutes to spare to watch The proposal. i had the best time! practically had the whole cinema to myself, except for 3 other people. the movie was great fun! really enjoyed myself.

3. being able to be there for my friend when she was discharged from the hospital.