I’m writing this while under the influence of a meager five hours of sleep which means I am seriously under-resourced. (Not my fault; I gave a full 8-hour allotment my best shot.) Five hours may sound like a bonanza of sleep for some* but at this point in my life I’m no longer able to function well on that amount (if I ever could), and so when I forced myself out of bed this morning it was with dread that I faced the day. And not a lot of gratitude. None, actually.

But this is where Three Good Things come in. Being seriously under-resourced doesn’t disable me from being able to identify three good things. For instance, barely an hour into this under-resourced day there was already a bounty of good:

1. I was able to advance some laundry and take care of a pesky online return which I’d been putting off, all before work, and that felt good.
2. My breakfast of whole wheat dark chocolate/chocolate chunk toast with peanut butter was delicious. (I know, how is it that I have come to rationalizing having chocolate for breakfast but, more importantly, let’s focus on the whole wheat part.)
3. My shrub roses have just busted out in a fragrant symphony of barely pink blooms and that makes me so happy.

There is so much to love about Three God Things with perhaps the most important one for me being how very low the bar is compared with gratitude. And how free of manipulation it is.  I sometimes get prickly about all the gratitude expected of us. This is probably because I’m my father’s daughter. At age 13 he famously traveled with his family to the Grand Canyon but, as family lore goes, he refused to take even one look. He’d been told in advance how overcome with awe he would be by it. There would be heavy expectation for him to exclaim and ooh and aah along with all the rest of them and he wasn’t having it. There may be some problematic stubbornness in my DNA regarding required emotion, but I can locate good things all day long if I want to.

Above and beyond  the good things about Three Good Things I’ve just noted, there are so very many more:

1. It has been rigorously studied by Dr. Bryan Sexton, the director of the Duke Center for the Advancement of Well-being Science. What their research found is almost beyond belief which is this: if a person reflects on three good things before going to bed for 14 days, they will see substantially improved mood for months afterward! (Very curiously, increasing the “dose” for longer than 14 days doesn’t significantly increase the length of time an improved mood persists.)
2. Three Good Things is part of a free program of proven activities developed by Duke and geared toward healthcare workers to reduce the symptoms of burnout and increase resilience. (While geared toward healthcare workers it is open to all, making it a great activity to do with your friends and family). Each of these interventions lasts between 3 – 15 days with most of them taking under five minutes. Here’s a 3-minute video clip of Dr. Sexton describing Three Good Things and why it’s so impactful.
3. Though I could go on, the last good thing I’ll share about Three Good Things today: it’s a great conversation extender with kids/g’kids inclined to offer the standard one-word response (fine) upon being asked how their day was. But wait a minute. Come to think of it, this is actually what we all do all the time. But if you ask, “What were three good things about your day…” Well. Now we’re talking. Asking, “What are three good things about your day?” is actually a great question for absolutely anyone you come in contact with. In a few swift seconds, it delivers a world of information about this person regarding their interests, their tastes, what’s important to them, their routines. All of a sudden with one simple, seemingly surface question, we get a lot more depth and dimension.

Three Good Things When Under-Resourced

Being under-resourced makes the day harder. For me it’s partly because my usual response is an almost fear-based worry about my ability to function. This must feel somewhat dangerous to me. (If I can’t function how will I take care of my responsibilities? What will get away from me? How will I survive? Not being able to function trips something primitive in me.) However, today I am finding that three good things is actually substantially increasing my capacity, not just for productivity but for peace and joy. Maybe you will experience the same good bump yourself when looking around or asking around for three good things.

To good things!

E

*Research indicates that one night of poor sleep impair functioning on par with having a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent, beyond the legal limit to drive. Interestingly, like alcohol, sleep deprivation affects judgment like our ability to assess how impaired we are when we’re tired.