At my workplace, we have a jar with the phrase “good vibes” emblazoned on the side. Next to the jar are colorful strips of paper and a pen. Throughout the week, we are encouraged to write something on one of these strips and place it within the jar. Occasionally, I send out an email to the staff with a writing prompt such as “what is something you are looking forward to in the next month?” or “please share something that made you smile recently.” Each week or so, I collect the papers, gather the staff together and read these items aloud as an afternoon pick-me-up.

We implemented this exercise in an effort to foster a spirit of positivity in our workplace. I have learned over the years that, without making a concerted effort to look for a bright side, it can become entirely too easy to descend into a negative mindset. If others around you are likewise trending toward being critical, or sharing irritations and frustrations, negativity can permeate the environment. Currently, there are many topics and conversations with the potential to deflate our mood balloons on a daily basis.

A quick Google search offers multiple articles outlining the benefits of developing an attitude of gratitude. And the act of physically writing out positive thoughts, or things that we are grateful for, adds to the level of good we can receive from this exercise.

Neuroscientist Glenn Fox has studied gratitude extensively, specifically in connection to his own mother’s experience with it during her journey with ovarian cancer. As he witnessed her positive response to purposefully documenting moments of gratitude, he decided to try the practice out for himself upon her death. He came to the conclusion that gratitude does, in fact, condition the brain. He states:

I think that gratitude can be much more like a muscle, like a trained response or a skill that we can develop over time as we’ve learned to recognize abundance and gifts and things that we didn’t previously notice as being important. ... And that itself is its own skill that can be practiced and manifested over time.

If you are trending toward negativity, maybe this exercise of writing out “good vibes” would help move you in the direction of Phil. 4:8 to “fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable ... things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

You can choose a container to collect daily, weekly, or monthly thoughts and then read them out at a designated time. For some, it may work better to keep a journal specifically for the purpose of gathering good thoughts with which to combat the bad. Call it a happiness journal or a gratitude journal, but accumulating positive memories can become an arsenal against downward spiraling thoughts.

If you aren’t into the positive or happiness messages, perhaps stockpiling Scriptures that strengthen you may be a more effective endeavor. Or maybe you can collect songs into a playlist that uplifts you.

These are just a few ideas. Perhaps one of them can help you prepare the ground for the Spirit to work in changing your way of thinking (Eph. 4:23).