The BallBox – as support for a good life…

It is a method that I have been trying myself since December 2003. It originates from the ancient Romans. I read in a newspaper that they used white stones for good days and black stones for bad days. They placed the stones in a bowl every day, which was emptied once a month. They could then see how the month had been and draw conclusions from that.

I thought the method was interesting, so I bought a small box with three compartments and a glass lid from Panduro. In one outer compartment, I have blue balls for good days and in the other outer compartment, I have brown balls for bad days. In the middle compartment, I would put the balls for the month. My partner laughed at me when I told her about my experiment: "You're so positive, you'll only have blue balls!" That wasn't the case, because sometimes bad things happen...

I started by keeping the "ball box" on my bedside table and choosing a suitable ball before going to bed. It doesn't take much time, but it's valuable to reflect a little on how the day has been and decide whether the net result was positive or negative.

After a while, I changed the routine, because I wanted to avoid the risk of falling asleep after choosing a brown ball... It's smarter to do this in the morning instead. Then I had a whole day to do what I could to get at least one blue ball.

I also think about how many Easterners complain about us Westerners because we are so focused on results. They think you should also enjoy the journey. Not just rush towards the next goal when one goal has been achieved. Why not do it this way?

My ball box has many positive effects, for example, I reflect on what I can do to get blue balls more often. I have also developed the Roman’s method a little, by also getting gold and silver balls for very good days. The "fun" thing is that the gold trend has been increasing ;-) In addition, I have received two nice red balls from my life partner, which I can use to celebrate exquisite days... The condition is that she must approve the choice ;-)

I would be very happy if you got yourself some kind of ball box and found it useful for a good life...

Good luck!

Rolf

P.S. You can find more tips for feeling good at work and in your private life in the book Let the Personality Bloom.