99 Days until Christmas

You are probably wondering why the heck I would be pointing this fact out to you – well, let me tell you – I point this out because we all need to have something to look forward to in life.   For example, in my life I can look forward to the fact that there is 99 days until Christmas, and there are 627 days until my son Dalton comes home from his mission, and there are three weeks until my new office will be ready to start moving into, and there are four days until the weekend!  See how having things to look forward to can make the future seem so much brighter?

I think that is a big reason why holidays are so fun; it’s because of the anticipation of the events and gatherings that we know will be so fun on the holidays.  It’s why we love having vacation planned for the future;  so we can spend months planning for it, getting prepared for it, and talking about how excited we are!  Having something fun on the schedule like hat can make the drudgery of the day-to-day go by in a much more pleasant manner.  Having something to be excited about in the future days can make it easier to cope with hard days because it stands as a light at the end of your tunnel.

Yes, having something to look forward to in life is a great way to keep you focused on being positive and excited about the future.  In fact, sometimes the joy that comes from the anticipation will surpass the joy that comes from the event itself.

“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.”   – A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I would challenge all of you to get out your calendars and add the dates of all of the fun things you are looking forward to.  Add Halloween, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas or Hanukkah.  Then add things like going for a drive to see the leaves changing colors, or seeing an upcoming movie, or going to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins for carving, or taking a weekend road trip, or visiting an old friend.    Schedule several things in the coming weeks and months that will give you something to look forward to and then be excited every day as you count down to your exciting adventures. You will also find that by planning these adventures on your calendar that you will be more likely to use your time wisely so you can be finished with your work on time in order to allow you to get to your exciting adventures.  Calendaring these activities and events will be a great motivator to help you stay focused. I know it works amazing for me when I do it.

I am excited to sit down and start mapping out some future plans on upcoming dates to get excited about!    I feel like Winnie the Pooh right before he eats his honey 🙂

Have a great Tuesday everyone and enjoy setting up some future exciting plans to look forward to

~Amy

2 Comments

  • Kim J says:

    Amy, Have you thought of having a motto for the year? I have one ok its not a motto but a saying I created for me and my son its the year of firsts or we revisit things we have done or not have done that we had fund doing or not have done. This next part We have been doing for years and I always love doing it as it makes the holiday’s so much fun as my son and I was just talking about it last night. I am a single parent and wanted to do something different with holiday’s then what I grew up with. So every Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas he helps make the decision on decorating or not. I totally love christmas as last year no tree was put up but he wanted all ALL the gifts hidden. That was the most memorable Christmas I have had in a while or was it the year he taken the Christmas lights that are suppose to be outside and strung them through out the house. Just try it I learned and grown for doing my motto and trying a new tradition in my house and it works and I LOVE IT.

  • Brennan says:

    One year we could not afford a Christmas tree and be able to get all the kids presents, so everyone in the family traced our hands on some green paper we had and made a Christmas tree. My wife and I stapled all of the hands on the wall biggest to smallest and then made paper ornaments and strung some lights we had on the wall. It turned out to be one of the funnest Christmases ever.

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