Fall is knocking at the door and winter is hard on its heels. Nothing lends zest to the season like a bucket list of proposed joys. With holidays in this month, it’s a great time to get started dreaming of happy holiday events.
Events come in small, medium, large and extra-large sizes. Begin with listing the little things:
- Express appreciation to a neighbor or colleague.
- Share some cookies fresh from the oven.
- Do a good deed for a shut-in. Many of our elderly and immunocompromised are still waiting for COVID to pass. You can be a blessing with just a card and a smile.
- Go to bed thinking of three things you’re thankful for, and share them with a loved one or a roommate.
Easy peasy, right? As you create your list, pepper these little acts of gratitude into your ideas requiring time or preparation. Life is always improved with the natural seasoning of thanksgiving.
Now start adding some annual events. Are there traditions you enjoy every year? Put them into your bucket list as well. By penciling them in, you are more likely to carry on the tradition. Include holiday decorating, gift wrapping, and tree trimming. Sometimes depression weighs us down…will things ever get better? Yes, they will, and the wait will be more enjoyable when you carry on family traditions.
Don’t stop with tradition. Think of something you’ve never done before—visiting a live nativity scene, ice skating, adopting a needy family or Christmas shopping in some new neighboring town. These outings will prove as fulfilling as the trip down memory lane, and may become new traditions. These new things don’t have to cost a lot of money. If you’ve never built a gingerbread house, open up the graham crackers and get crackin’! Create a new snowflake garland for the tree or string cranberries. If you can’t remember the last time you made snow angels, put it on the list.
Speaking of snow, plan ahead for inclement weather. Find a new puzzle for a snowy day. Get on Pinterest and find a recipe for chili with some new twist. Wrap up the secret ingredients to a new cookie recipe and open them when it’s just too frigid to venture out. As you make your bucket list, you’ll see that most of your happiness isn’t costing you an arm and a leg. Happiness comes from the heart, not the wallet.
As a matter of fact…research shows that people with bucket lists The Healthy suggests that a bucket list is a healthy way of enjoying even the simplest of pleasures—the smell of clean laundry and good cup of coffee. It lowers your stress and optimizes your health. People looking forward to a season of pleasure are people not looking at the gloomy side of life, right? That’s good mental health.
Live Rich Live Well suggests that stress reduction is inherent in these simple pleasures of life. Not only will you cope better with the pressures you feel, but you will lower your overall stress moving forward. Simple pleasures like a short daily time out from life actually lowers your blood pressure!
Your bucket list makes you a healthier person, a better version of yourself, and ultimately, a better employee. Start that list!
