This time of year is often especially hectic and crazy for people. How can we cultivate our resilience during times like these? Learn to savor the little moments.
Love this activity from The Onward Workbook that guides you through the process of savoring these moments.:
Researchers have found that the happiest people savor good moments in life. By taking the time and spending the effort to appreciate the positive, we can experience more well-being. Follow this 3-step process:
- Plan and Anticipate: Savoring little moments is a habit, and all good habits start with a plan. What will you savor this week? Make a list of a least 10 mundane but enjoyable moments that you can anticipate savoring this week: Stretching in bed when you first wake up, taking a shower, eating breakfast, listening to music on the way to work. Which moments in your day do you know you enjoy, but sometimes don’t pay attention to? Start with those and then add a few others that you already anticipate will be good moments – the walk you have planned with a friend after school on Wednesday, the team meeting you always enjoy, and so on.
- Notice and Enjoy: Now, when you experience those moments, the trick is to enjoy them. Because you’ve made a plan to enjoy them your mind might remind you of your plan when you’re in the moment. You might hear yourself saying, Hey! I planned to enjoy my team meeting, and here I am in that meeting, Catching yourself in the experience is the next key step. Noticing – in the moment – what you enjoy and appreciate is the final component to this activity. You might recognize, for example, that during that team meeting, one member, whim you don’t know very well, asks a question that is really insightful and moves the discussion along. Or you might notice that you feel that you’re doing meaningful work with your team, or that you feel confident about challenging ideas. Savor each little moment that feels good – an interaction with a student , a glass of iced tea, the affection of a pet and so on.
- Reflect: At the end of each day, capture a reflection. At the end of each week, reflect. What did you learn about yourself from his activity? How were mundane experiences different when you were aware of them and focusing on what you could appreciate about them? Which moments stand out now as having been particularly enjoyable?