Around the time when the positive affect activity was given out, I was not really close with my block. I had a few friends, but of course being college, they weren’t always there as they had their own things to attend to. It was during and after the positive affect activity that I felt more comfortable and much happier with my block. I felt that even a little, I, together with my group, was able to break the ice with most of the members of my block and that made all the difference.
I think that by being ‘present’ at that moment or in a way, more aware of what was happening during the activity, I came to realize that being positive can come naturally and often overrides negative thoughts, which was the case for me. While we were passing out Flattops and making jokes with one another, with strangers, I wasn’t thinking about my isolation from the block or anything bad for that matter, and I’d like to think that neither did my blockmates. I also came to realize that while the activity was only temporary along with the positivity it brought, the same was the case for my negative thoughts.
Overall, the activity made me realize that going out of my comfort zone can bring about positivity, especially if the zone I entering exhibits positivity. It also solidified my understanding of Barbara Fredrickson’s idea that people who are more extraverted tend to be happier because they spend more time with others. The activity allowed me to broaden my relationships and sociability with other people and by doing so, allowed me to have to have positive thoughts and later on these thoughts were concretized into actions.
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