I Got A Prescription To Treat My Mental Health
The Big Joy Project Recap
The Big Joy Project Recap. Created with Adobe Express
If you follow me on Medium, you may have seen a series of stories about The Big Joy Project. But what is this?
As you can read here, the Greater Good Science Center at the University of Berkeley, in collaboration with HopeLab, launched the Greater Good in Action project. Their mission? To understand the science behind happiness, test it out, and make it accessible to the non-scientific community.
You get assigned multiple challenges to try over a 7-day period.
Each of them relates to different actions that, according to peer-reviewed research, may boost your happiness. They call them the micro-acts of JOY. Then you report back and they measure how different actions affect your overall sense of happiness.
For example, some of them involve giving to others.
If you have read my articles here, happiness and mental health are two topics I’m very passionate about. There was a dramatic change in my life when I started taking care of this part of my health. So I had to check it out for myself.
And I’m happy to report that I have completed the 7 days of the Challenge! I’m amazed I stuck to it, to be honest. But here we are.
And as they promised, they sent me a “prescription” of the best things for my mental health.
My Big Joy Project final results
Share a Laugh, and Tune in What Matters was the least helpful for me (at least for this experiment), but still yielded quite positive results.
The winners? Make a gratitude list, shift your perspective, and dwell in awe. And that’s no surprise since they relate to the micro-acts of JOY that I’m used to doing as part of my mental health routine.
But let’s dissect them a little bit here. I’ll be brief, I promise!
Make a Gratitude List
This miro-act of Joy consists of taking some time to reflect on the positive things, people, and situations that you currently have.
The idea is that focusing on what we already have or have accomplished puts things into perspective. It makes us see that whatever we are missing, looks small next to our list.
Additionally, it helps us understand that things take time and work, but that we have been able to overcome less-than-ideal situations in the past. Therefore, we are equipped to do it again!
Shift Your Perspective
This micro-act of Joy consists of thinking about the positive outcomes of negative situations. For example, being rejected from. a job opens the opportunity to apply to another job you just saw advertised and for which you could be a better fit.
Being denied a grant means you can explore other things you like in life.
Failing to get pregnant in a particular month may mean that you can enjoy and relax at your friend’s bachelorette party.
Don’t get it wrong though, is not about fooling yourself into accepting negative things with a huge smile.
It’s about understanding that no outcome, positive or negative from our perspective, comes with all positive or negative consequences.
Dwell in Awe
This micro-act of you is about contemplating and enjoying things that are bigger than ourselves. The most common being being outdoors, but watching the stars or an inspiring nature documentary could do the trick too.
The idea is that observing events of such a magnitude puts things into perspective. It helps us understand that we are only a little piece of the puzzle of life.
But it also helps us feel inspired. Being outdoors is like pressing a reset button, where all your thoughts get pushed out of your brain, and then put back in. New, refreshed. And when we come back, we feel the energy to accomplish anything in life.
So, this is me. This is what helps me most, this is who I am, and this is the prescription to keep improving.
I hope that by reading this, you got to know me just a little bit better, and understand that, just like you, I’m a complex human being with complex emotions and needs.
I encourage you to take on the Challenge. I promise it won’t leave you empty-handed.
