Anticipation

Having versus anticipating!  We all want stuff.  Some of us save for it and finally, it becomes a reality.  Once we have it, it's part of our everyday life and we begin to want something else, something new.  So, we save for it or plan for it, get it, enjoy it and it becomes part of our everyday life!......... So maybe we should break the cycle and anticipate experiences instead of just stuff.  I'm not a big traveler so seeing the world, or even the good ole USA, probably isn't in my new experience folder but short jaunts, projects and even experiences for those I love can fill a folder to bursting!



Taking my family on excursions usually fills me up. They generally can't afford the bells and whistles so I buy them and blow them myself.  My soul is happy to see them happy.  Their anticipation is mine!  My projects make me happy too and as of late, I've decided I need to make me smile a little more.  Once again, it's the anticipation, the planning, the research even if it's just a me project.  Me projects are things like our theater, our Culture Cottage, Jim Bob, the pool fence...I enjoy these projects because it makes me happy.... Imagine that!♥



Possessions can be exhilarating but anticipation really matters according to clinicians who actually study it! They have found that anticipation of an experience causes excitement and enjoyment, while anticipation of obtaining a possession often causes impatience. (I may have to argue that point a bit...I still love the thrill of the wait and the joy of its arrival or completion!)  Experiences are enjoyable from the very first moments of planning, all the way through to the memories you will embrace forever.



So, the variables of having versus anticipating (or possessions versus experiences) can be summed up kind of like one man's trash is another man's treasure.  Do what makes you happy!  If it's buying for others, do it. If it's planning family outings, do it.  If it's dragging a 60-year-old truck into your front yard, do it! Just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, happiness is in the mind of anticipator♥