My friend X has some issues. She has some OCD tendencies, she sometimes has panics attacks, she overreacts and exaggerates, she extra-loves, she is adorable and sometimes unbearable, at times her self-esteem is very low. In a few words, she is healthy, but she has some issues. Many people are the same, many of us we have issues. X has been in therapy for years. She has been treated with several different approaches, and yet once she told me something that really got me thinking: “I have been in therapy for so long and they all tell me my self-esteem is low, yet no one ever gave me CLEAR instructions”.
Good point: concrete instructions. What do you do when you are feeling depressed? How to you build upon your weakened self-esteem? What tools, instruments, screwdrivers, hammers, kneels do you need to take care of your inner building site?
Well. I cannot but think about this point, as, going through my studies, I make psychological discoveries: how could how transmit this? How do I keep this simple? How do I build a toolbox, a KIT?
A kit is something people carry around, it helps, it is a small set of strategic items you need in strategic moments. If you travel, you want to carry a sleep-well kit: you have a smooth satin sleeping mask, you have some lavender drops, a little pillow, a lovely book to read, the most modern kits might contain some music device. You have first aid kits, go-to-the-toilet-when-abroad kit, sewing kits, beauty kits, press kits….
WHAT ABOUT THEN AN HAPPINESS KIT? When you need happiness (we always do), we extract something from the kit and we use it. USE. Concrete, practical. So what did I do? Easy: I took a little bag and I put some objects in it. Which objects?: some of the TWELVE OBJECTS that Positive Psychology has taught me they bring happiness.
A small selection will do, you most probably don’t need them all twelve. You carry them around, you touch them, you look at them, you start practising a “cognitive reconstruction” which sounds boring but means that practise makes perfect.
In order to make the whole project even more perfect (yes!), I thought I could sell these happiness kits and part of the proceeds could go to charities (which brings even more happiness ;-).
Perfect, isn’t it?
