The #tigf movement
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 1:23PM People use micro-blogging service Twitter for a plethora of reasons. @Oprah (Oprah Winfrey) uses it to talk about tick remedies for her dogs. @Apulsk (Ashton Kutcher) tweets about international politics. As for me, (@Nehalia) I mostly talk about cool stuff I discover on the the internet, tech, music, food, and fitness. At the end of last year when I was going through a tough time, I thought of a better way to use Twitter: to track how grateful I was for the life I lead. 
It all started with being really upset about how events were unfolding beyond my control and trying to find a way to be positive when the chips were down. In January of this year, I left for India and realized how fairly easy we have it in the US with just the basics. Sure, I had thought about this before; the difference was that I wanted to not only remember but note all the things I am grateful for. Since I chronicle most of what's going on in my brain on Twitter, I thought a hashtag would be the best way for me to file my positive thoughts and thus #tigf [things I am grateful for] was born. Just reading back to all my past #tigf's is a great retrospective; many parts of India that I was tweeting from did not have electricity or running water all the time. I also noted the wonderful things about being there, like spending time with my adorable nieces. All in all, it's been a great way to truly document moments of happiness or extreme gratitude for elements in my life.
Like many of you out there, I am receiving unemployment checks and trying to find a great full time gig. Other than #tigf, I've made a number of other positive changes in my life like adopting the life of a teetotaler and exercising regularly. Ever since I was in college, I was living the life of the overachiever and never really made time for myself. Now, I feel balanced and truly happy even without a paycheck, which has definitely been a journey that has taken me from here to India, China and back. Positivity and morale is low with the general American workforce and I think something as simple as a hashtag could possibly make you think differently. I encourage you to try joining the #tigf movement and would love to hear some of the things you are grateful for in your lives. It can be as simple as having a pair of warm socks to being blissfully employed and leading your dream life. Try on the #tigf movement for size and let me know what is fueling your happiness!
Reader Comments (6)
Good post Nehalia
Testing Facebook Connect.
Yay for positive vibes, Neha!. :)
You are absolutely right! I am 53 and have been fortunate to live in the US my entire life. I get to do what I enjoy, architecture. Reflecting, our good life is all about "opportunity". Its about the possibility of achieving what ever we are willing to work hard enough for. I think of the poor children in Africa, or maybe some you have seen in India, who no matter what their potentials are will never have the opportunity to pursue them. Times are tough, but they could be a lot worse. #tifg is an excellent way to look at life! You are young and have so many exciting journey's to travel! You go get'em girl!
I have been doing something similar in my twitter feed since September. I found that I was just complaining about all the little stuff on there so I decided to start changing my frame of mind. Every day on my lunch break I say "What do you (heart) right now?" and then list something I (heart). Things you (heart) are just things that make you happy or make you smile. It started out being very difficult and, on stressful days it still is, but over time it has really changed my world view. Now I find myself making mental notes of all the things that make me happy throughout the day just in case I don't have anything when my break comes around. I encourage my followers to find something that makes them happy too even if it's hours later. It can be something very small or huge but I try to come up with something different every day. I am, by far, a much more positive person just by doing this exercise. @sims2 on Twitter. It's great to see someone else doing something similar.
I sure wish I would've had some of your experiences earlier in life. Having things suck makes you realize how good they actually are. Your dream life is probably the one you're having this moment, and yet we rarely realize it.