Thoughts on Enjoyment

When I was a child I always saved the best for last. I think this is because of my family. For example, we always took our summer vacation during the very last week of summer before school started up again in late August. The idea behind this was that we would have something to look forward to all summer rather than taking our beach vacation in June and then just hanging around the house for 2 months. Good idea, but I think it planted the wrong message in my mind.

As a result, I have countless memories of saving my favorite foods for last in my meals, postponing buying something I had saved for so I could put off my enjoyment until a more convenient time, etc. I would also save my favorite clothes for later in the week and put off socializing and fun events until my work was done. These are all good qualities in a hard-working person, but often times I would miss opportunities to have fun and enjoy myself.

When I was living in France, and generally since growing up a little bit, I've found that, more often than not, opportunities for enjoyment catch you by surprise. You can't always plan for them and you can't always schedule them in. So lately I've been trying to give myself permission to capitalize on these opportunities. Instead of leaving my favorite food for last, I'll indulge every so often. Eating your favorite foods improves your mood, which helps with productivity. Likewise, being social or allowing myself times to goof off instead of always being serious is important too. Nobody can just sit down and do serious work all the time while saving their "reward" for later. The human mind and spirit needs variety and stimulation.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it's OK to be less "hard-working" and focus more on pleasure, because having pleasure in your life makes you more productive and more able to enjoy this human experience. The real challenge is opening yourself up to these moments of enjoyment, being able to recognize them, and giving yourself permission to indulge.