Husband and I have planned some fun trips for the summer, and while we were sitting in church this past Sunday, I leaned over and whispered to him, "I'm so excited for our trips!" He chuckled and replied, "much more excited than you'll actually be when we get there, right?"
He was mostly teasing, but it's really true. I am vacationally challenged. I get SO excited for a trip (or a party) - I love planning the details, purchasing plane tickets (if that's involved, and if they're not ridiculously expensive), and just daydreaming about how much fun it will be. It honestly gets me through difficult moments/days/weeks, because I have something fun and different to look forward to.
Once the event/trip arrives, though, I immediately start being sad knowing that it will be over relatively soon. At the beginning, I can pretend (with mild success) that the end of the trip is oh, so far away and bask in the joy of being away from work and (some) responsibilities. Once we hit the halfway mark, though, I usually have some depression begin to kick in, thinking "Oh, no! There's only X days left! It's almost over!" Even if the trip is two weeks long and we're only one week into it.
This is something I really want to work on fixing, since it drastically influences my enjoyment of these memory-making activities. One of my yoga workouts is led by a guy (with a voice that sounds like Kermit the frog) who says some seemingly-silly things that I've realized are actually quite profound and that might be helpful advice for me. During some positions, he says things like "Be here... Think of what you're doing while you're doing it... Enjoy the way this feels," etc.
I think too often, I'm thinking ahead to the next thing (in life, on my list, after my current activity, whatever), and not living any given moment fully. Then I look back and it's gone, and I realize I didn't make the most of it. I need to learn to BE where I am, to THINK/ENJOY what I'm doing WHILE I'm doing it.* If I can conquer this before I have kids, I know it will be especially worthwhile, since everyone says how fast they grow up. (*Um, I think trying to apply this counsel to work might be overkill - I want to learn to enjoy fun stuff before I try to make myself enjoy not-fun-at-all stuff, thank you very much.)
That all might be easier said than done, however. Do any of you feel the same way? Do you have any advice or tips on how to battle those feelings? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Preferrably before May, when I get to go to Florida! I get to go to FLORIDA in May!! It's less than two months away!! WAHOOO!!!!!!!!!! *Jumping up and down and clapping hands for joy*
....yeeeeaaaah, see what I mean?!
3 comments:
Well, I think most people work on that quality. I am totally that way, and there is a chance I do enjoy the planning more than the actual trip (most likely because my children are most often with me. It's all a process.
What I do is when I'm on vacation, I try to think about what I'd be doing right then if I weren't on vacation. In other words, if I glance at the clock and see it's 2:30, I say to myself, "Man--I'd still be at work for another hour or two." This cheers me up immensely.
Hil - glad to know I'm not alone. I'll keep plugging away!
Bryce - yeah, I try to do that, too. Funny thing is, I get bummed if it's 7PM, thinking "Aw, I would have been home now anyway." I realize that is extremely lame-o, but there you have it.
Post a Comment