Enliven and transform

Julia ♦ August 2, 2020 ♦ Leave a comment

A cheerful setting can transform a cup of tea into a special occasion!
Yorktown, Virginia, May 2013

“Instead of resigning ourselves to lives in which 75 percent of the day is less enjoyable or at best, neutral, we can find ways to enliven and transform these moments.”
— Todd Kashdan

Whatever you have planned for today, tomorrow, or this week, see if you can think up some ways to add sparkle to the daily routine of life.  It doesn’t have to take a lot of money or effort.  Light a candle, use your good china, play some nice music or listen to an audiobook as you tackle mindless chores.  Tape a treasured card or photo to your mirror where you see it first thing in the morning.  Make a new recipe, or dig out one you haven’t used in awhile. Leave surprise “I love you” notes for family to find later.

There’s nothing like a brush with our own (or a loved one’s) mortality to reinforce a truth that we all know, but seldom enact: Life is too short to spend even one day dwelling on the discouraging, sad or frustrating.  Whatever you plan for today, or this week, I hope you will get creative and brainstorm some ways to enliven and transform your routines.  Please share your ideas with us in the comments!

This post was originally published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.