This practice is part of the
Time Required
10 minutes daily for three weeks
How to Do It
- To start, list five things that make you feel like your life is enjoyable, enriching, or worthwhile at this moment. These things can be as general as “being in good health” or as specific as “drinking a delicious cup of coffee this morning.” The purpose of this first step is to help you shift into a positive state of mind about your life in general.
- Next, think about the most recent time when something didn’t go your way, or when you felt frustrated, irritated, or upset.
- In a few sentences, briefly describe the situation in writing.
- Then, list three things that can help you see the bright side of this situation. For example, perhaps you missed your bus this morning. Three ways to look on the bright side of this situation might be:
1. Even though you missed the bus, you got some good exercise when you were running to catch it.
2. You’re fortunate to live in a city where there was another bus just 10 minutes later, or where buses run reliably at all.
3. Ten years from now, you likely won’t remember what happened this morning.
Why You Should Try It
We all tend to ruminate on things that have gone wrong in our lives—a mistake we made at work, an evening that didn’t go as planned. We might even think about them so often that our lives seem filled with these mishaps and disappointments. Focusing on them too much, however, can cast a pall over our lives and even be associated with depressive thinking.
Looking on the bright side even when things go wrong is a key component of optimism, which research links to lower rates of depression, a better ability to cope with stress, and more relationship satisfaction, among other benefits. While finding the silver lining on a negative experience might (understandably) make you fear turning into a Pollyanna, many of us have a tendency to look on the bright side too rarely, not too often. This exercise is designed to help you achieve a healthier balance.
Why It Works
Looking on the bright side of life in general, or of a bad situation in particular, can increase happiness by boosting your sense of self-worth, motivating you to go after your goals, and enhancing your enjoyment of life. Regularly completing the silver linings exercise can help you get in the habit of recognizing positive aspects of your life and seeing the upside to challenging situations rather than fixating on the downsides. With repeated practice, you may find that it comes more naturally to look on the bright side, even when faced with difficulties in your life.
Evidence That It Works
Sergeant, S., & Mongrain, M. (2014). An online optimism intervention reduces depression in pessimistic individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 82(2), 263-274.
After completing Finding Silver Linings and the Goal Visualization exercises daily for three weeks, people reported greater engagement in life and less negative thinking than before. Those who had a tendency to be pessimistic especially benefited from the exercises and showed fewer depressive symptoms afterward. These effects seemed to wear off two months later, though, suggesting it’s helpful to repeat this practice periodically.
Who Has Tried The Practice?
Participants in the above study were all English speakers from Asia, Canada, and the United States, with mostly European or Asian ancestry. Around 65% of the participants were female, and 85% had received at least some post-secondary education.
Additional research has engaged members of other groups:
- Participants in Canada across genders, ages, and education levels improved in well-being after practicing Finding Silver Linings.
- Working-class people in Canada also benefitted from Finding Silver Linings. Participants were mostly female, white, Christian, and highly educated.
More research is needed to explore whether, and how, the impact of this practice extends to other groups and cultures.
Sources
Myriam Mongrain, Ph.D., York University
For More
Check out the Goal Visualization practice, which was developed and studied in tandem with this Silver Linings practice.
References
Drozd, F., Mork, L., Nielsen, B., Raeder, S., & Bjørkli, C. A. (2014). Better days—A randomized controlled trial of an internet-based positive psychology intervention. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(5), 377–388.
Sergeant, S., & Mongrain, M. (2015). Distressed users report a better response to online positive psychology interventions than nondistressed users. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 56(3), 322–331.
Comments
and Reviews
Jo Ann McCalister
I'm not making huge steps in the right direction but am thinking about it more and more.
Marilyn Immoos
Not bad. I had to smile at some of the unexpected events connected with the bad (financial) news I had received. There are a number of my colleagues who are experiencing the same disparity, and a team of colleagues who are here to help.
Angelo
Joseph
it is short and simple, I think it has an accumulative positive effect if you do it several times
Nancy Wolf
I did not enjoy this practice. Instead of feeling the silver lining, I felt the frustration and aggravation of the experience I wrote about.
Jackie Woody
Enjoyed doing it!
The Greater Good Toolkit
Made in collaboration with Holstee, this tookit includes 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life.
The Greater Good Toolkit
Made in collaboration with Holstee, this tookit includes 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life.