BY NEIL PASRICHA & LESLIE RICHARDSON
INNOVATION ROSE, ROSE BLOCKERS, THORN, BUD
A TWO-MINUTE
EVENING PRACTICE
To Move Nighttime Angst Into Gratitude And Peaceful Sleep
BY NEIL PASRICHA & LESLIE RICHARDSON
“
Happiness is a choice.”
Hear that saying before? Betting you have. We all have! It’ s almost cliché. And yes, while research shows that a good deal of our happiness really is a choice, the saying gives us a“ what” without a“ how.”
We both grew up sometimes feeling anxious and overwhelmed and have come to need and rely on“ hows.” Ending up in the happiness industry— Neil publishing ten books and Leslie teaching strategies to let go of the hard and grow the good in schools and families— was a surprise. We think it’ s because everyone inevitably falls back into negative spirals, and perhaps it’ s sharing these simple— dead-simple, ruthlessly simple— systems that helps get us back on track.
So what do we do at night when our nighttime angst bubbles up, that dangerous mind that rears its ugly head after the dust of the day has settled, the sun has set, and our resilience is low? We take two minutes individually, as a couple, or together with our kids to share a rose, a second rose, a thorn, and a bud. This scroll back through the day helps us inch closer to that fabled happiness North Star. It gets gratitude
18 • SpectrumInsGroup. com