I'm certainly an adventurer who appreciates a good dosage of spontaneity, but I also value the personal routines and rituals I've developed over time. They're constantly changing, but my favorites are what I like to call "the bookends."
Each day's first bookend? After my alarm sounds and before I get out of bed to stumble to the shower, I stop to ponder what I am most looking forward to in the day before me. It serves as a bit of a "warm up" for the usually busy agenda that awaits my attention. Sometimes it's a big event that I'm looking forward to, other times it's a meal or a nap. It's always varied, though. It helps me highlight how much there is to look forward to in each day, which propels me through those things I might be dreading.
The last bookend developed pretty organically. I "worked" (let's be honest, I was enjoying my spot as a barista too much to call it work) at Starbucks for quite a while in college. I began asking each and every customer and Starbucks partner I encountered what the best part of their day had been, inspiring them to slow down from the hurry of their lives and consider the rich, vibrant pieces. With time, several regular customers became eager to share their "best part" with me when they saw my car in the parking lot, and many stopped to ask me the same question when it had slipped my mind. This simple interaction became one of the most treasured pieces of my everyday life, and it taught me to appreciate and value each person's unique journey. While living in our sorority house in college, one roommate and I would even "collect" our daily best parts on a poster inside our closet. Today, I keep this ritual alive by asking friends and family members, but also by asking myself for my own answer as a "cool down" for the day as I settle in for bed.
The bigger picture, though, is where I find the most meaning. It astounds me how often my "warm up" and "cool down" rituals do not match up. More often than not, my conclusion about the best part of my day is something so much smaller than I what I was most looking forward to. The littlest opportunities to be happy tend to take command of my entire day if I let them. Today's source of bliss? Ryan Adams sneaking through the speakers while I write. Never fails to make everything else melt away for a moment.
Go ahead. Try it.
"Great opportunities present themselves at the most unexpected moments, in surprisingly unexpected ways. What's most important is being open and being flexible." - LVL, Arizona State University
"Renew thyself completely each day; do it again and again, and forever again." - Henry David Thoreau
