This is a reminder about the number three - as in Tell Me 3 Good Things.
There are lots of reasons why we Notice, Name + Share our good things 3 at a time, but the tl;dr is this: 3 is enough to make an impact, without being overwhelming. It’s manageable. And when something is manageable, we’re more likely to do keep doing it.
There’s science behind it, but this is what compels me:
When my kids were young, we used to tell each other 3 Good Things at the dinner table. My husband, my son, my daughter, and myself, we’d go around the table, taking turns, each saying one good thing at a time.
And invariably, after we’d been around the table 3 times, I would say - *“Oh wait! I have one more.” *And sometimes another one after that, too. Surely, this surprises no one.
To say that my son did not like my fourth and fifth round good things is an understatement. He could not stand it when I added those extra good things, and I did not understand how more good things could possibly upset a person. Until he explained that when I keep on going, with four or five or more good things, it can seem like if other people “only” share 3, that’s somehow not enough. Oof.
Of course it can.
The last thing I would ever want to do is to make another person feel like their good things are not enough - or discourage anyone from participating in this practice. But I got carried away, and I thought that more was more, and more was better. I didn’t realize that my more might make someone else feel like theirs was less. Such a lesson.
So we stick to 3 ever since. Even when I have seven good things (I might write those down privately) I’m sharing 3.
Because we’re in this together, friends.
Thursday:
Today is my son’s birthday. He is a tremendous human being with a big beautiful heart and spirit, and the strongest sense of justice and fairness I’ve ever known. And he’s funny, and fun to be with, and being his mother is a true and great privilege and gift of my life.
The Indigo Girls, and the way their music transports me back in time. Related, streaming music platforms where I can listen to all of my favorites at the touch of a button.
The cut on my thumb seems to be healing nicely.
Now you? Tell me 3 good things?
Xo.
