Many of the challenges we face in life are outside of our control. We don’t know what’s going to happen in one day, one month or one year. That makes life a gamble, a roll of the dice in a way. But we can control our attitude and how we view things. It always makes me think of the 90’s song Tubthumping that says “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you are never gonna keep me down” or the Shakira song from Zootopia, Try Everything, where she says “I keep falling down, I keep on hitting the ground, I always get up now to see what’s next”. It’s this loud and clear message that you will fall down, you will get knocked down; but your ability to stand up again, to pick yourself up and persistently try again is your Invincibility. Your ability to look life in the face and say “Whatever happens today, doesn’t matter, because I’m going to keep coming”. Well that sounds nice, right? But I know sometimes all you really want to do is stay down. It’s not so bad down here, kind of grounding actually. Maybe I’ll just live here because I’m tired of fighting. How do you get back up on THOSE days?
If you’ve asked yourself that question or you just want to actively work on reminding yourself to be positive, this activity is for you! I originally developed this activity as a Motivational Monday activity for my boxing class as it’s really fun to do with a group and is relatively quick. You can also do it by yourself or with any number of friends.
Start with a basic cube- this can be one you make from cardboard, a wood cube from a crafting store or anything with 6+ sides. If you’re doing this activity solo, put one of each of the below things on each side. For a group, write one thing on your block and then pass your block to the next person. Each person will then get a block with inspiration and encouragement from many viewpoints! I like to do mine with multiple colored fine-point markers so that you get fun colors all over the block.
- Write something encouraging
- Write something that inspires you to be happy
- Write something that makes you smile
- Write something that inspires you to carry on when times are tough
- Write something proactive
- Write something that reminds you that whatever you’re going through, you’re not alone
Now that you’ve made your block, put it on your desk, dresser, bathroom counter- anywhere that will remind you that you are the only one who can change the odds of life into something positive. This 6 sided dice is a “roll of the dice” and has odds. But no matter what you roll, you get something good! It’s the same for your day and whatever you’re going through. Choose to make the odds all positive.