Beautiful Day

Lauren's picture
Submitted by Lauren on Sun, 03/02/2008 - 1:50am.
Ever since we received the Living Positive Psychology interventions, I had looked forward to the “Beautiful Day” exercise. I started brainstorming weeks in advance about what activities would comprise the perfect day.  My number-one-most-perfect-day-ever consisted of this:
➢    Wake-up and lay in bed for about a half an hour, letting my brain wake up at its own pace.
➢    Workout for about 45 minutes. Running on the treadmill, beating my previous time.
➢    Eat a delicious breakfast at the Bread Peddler. Savoring deliciousness and not thinking about how many calories are in Mornay sauce.
➢    Go for a walk around the lake in the sunshine. Run around outside.
➢    Somehow, play with a puppy
➢    Talk to my mom
➢    Read, paint, draw or do homework outside
➢    Meet up with some friends and cook dinner, followed by cocktails.
➢    Hang out, relax, and get to bed at a reasonable hour

This perfect day, however, was not in the cards. I am in the process of switching jobs right now, and I am in the awkward phase.  I’ve started the second job; but my two weeks aren’t up yet at the first job. This means a lot of twelve-hour days, which is good for money, but not so good for beautiful days.  I was forced to rethink my plan.
    I decided to reframe it in the context of work. Fortunately, I work with some great people who make that a lot easier. I made sure to actively look forward to working with specific people, or to plan little treats or challenges for myself at work.  I planned to make a really good hazelnut latté for myself first thing when I got to work, and to really appreciate it. Or to get excited about working with Casey. Or to come up with a really tasty thing to order for lunch. I focused on how great it would be when those things happened, like a kind of  “pre-gratitude”.
    It worked surprisingly well. A few times, I found myself not wanting to leave work. Even after waiting tables for seven hours on half that amount on sleep. I realized that the important factors that comprised my day were positive social interaction, activity, creativity, and deliciousness. As long as those requirements are met, any day can be a beautiful day.


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