Sarah Trimmer is an extremely courageous person and a hero to many. During a five-year period, Ms. Trimmer lost both parents, got divorced, had both breasts removed because of breast cancer, had the cancer return two years later which necessitated chemotherapy and radiation treatments and then had her ovaries removed in an effort to prevent the cancer from returning again. To help herself get through these very tough times, she created a system called #startandendhappy. The idea was to start and end her day focusing on elevating her level of happiness. As Ms. Trimmer put it in a TED talk, “When a person elevates their happiness, they build their mental strength and mental strength is what it takes to get you through the rough times.” To elevate her level of happiness, she starts and ends her days reciting and completing the following five phrases:
- Today I am grateful for…
- Today I helped someone by…
- Something that made me happy today was…
- Today I learned…
- Tomorrow I will…
A perfect way to start and end our days. Notice how these phrases are “other-focused” rather than “self-focused.”
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