6Adam Turns Toward the Positive

Adam was very observant, but his eye always landed on what went wrong: lukewarm coffee, a missed appointment, rain on the day of a trip. He felt worn out and dissatisfied, and knew he needed to change his outlook.

One evening, after a day full of small annoyances, Adam told his father Sami about his frustration. His father listened wisely and patiently, then handed him an old, worn notebook and said, “When I was your age, I focused on the negatives just like you. This notebook was my way out.”

“Every night, he wrote down three good moments from his day.”

Adam asked, “How?” His father said, “I called it my gratitude notebook. Every night I wrote down three good moments from my day, however small they seemed. It was a way to train my mind to see the good.”

Adam tried it, despite his doubts. The first night was hard; his day had been full of appointments and traffic. But he remembered a colleague who told a joke, the taste of his favourite sandwich at lunch, and a song he heard in the car. He wrote them all down.

The next day he decided to create a simple moment himself: a quiet walk in the park at lunchtime. He added it to his notebook along with two other moments.

The weeks passed, and Adam added positive activities to his life: swimming on days off, handball matches in the neighbourhood, even woodworking. The pages of his notebook grew brighter and more honest.

One evening, reading what he had written, he realised how much he had changed. He still noticed life’s flaws, but they no longer hid its good moments.

The years passed and the notebook filled with memories of joy and contentment. Realising the power of this simple habit, he passed it on to his children, teaching them to see God’s blessings in their day and to thank Him for them.