On Looking Forward
Published: 04/08/2024
It was my birthday a few weeks ago. The day ended with two of my closest friends paying me a surprise visit. They brought a blueberry cheesecake along. We cut the cake, shared a couple of slices, talked, and watched football. It was a fun night.
During our chat, I told them about an upcoming milestone in my life: "I am going to buy myself a new car, my first car!". I continued and gave them more context. My current car unfortunately has a diesel engine, which is over ten years old now. According to my city's rules, using this car is now prohibited.
"Which car are you getting then?!", they asked. "I don't know much about cars", I replied. "I went with my father and brother's recommendation, though I did insist on choosing the color of the car". But, that wasn't all. My options were limited. Being a wheelchair user, the new car had to suit my accessibility requirements as well.
My friends and I started riffing and making plans to go out for meals together. A group chat was created. The planning made me feel quite excited about the new car.
I told them that I am really looking forward to our plans. One of my friends heard this and said that as he’s grown older, he’s realized how important it is to have things to look forward to in life. He said this in passing and the night carried on.
Both my friends had work the next day so we said our bye-byes and hugged goodnight.
A few weeks have passed since that night. My friend's comment about having things to look forward to still hasn't left me. It's not that he said something new or profound. He simply vocalized something had I had been inadvertently doing in life. I just hadn't thought of it explicitly. I find such external reminders like this from people in my life to be really helpful. They make me feel validated and seen. That's what happened that night.
Having a list of things to look forward is a happiness hack, which makes life exciting. For example, I'm always looking forward to watching Manchester United play every week. Life goes on from one match to another. This brings so much momentum to life and momentum feels good.
I also look forward to my daily cup of coffee. I go to bed every night thinking of the coffee that I'll brew the next day. Taking a break from work and spending a couple of minutes making coffee is one of the best parts of my day. This coffee excitement has the tendency to shoot up significantly if a new bag of coffee has come in.
James Hoffman, in his video titled: 'What Does A Great Cup Of Coffee Taste Like?' articulated the emotion of anticipation for coffee really well:
Social events are another source of excitement. I love inviting friends over to catch up. I pair this with serving them a coffee beverage of their choosing from a menu I've prepared for my coffee bar.
Rituals linked with festivals is a thing to look forward for me as well. Christmas in particular gets me excited. I eagerly wait for my first listen of Wham!'s Last Christmas every Winter.
It's more important to have a list of things to look forward to than what your list actually contains. My current list:
- New football season
- Daily Coffee Fun — I want to increase my repertoire of coffee recipes
- Hanging out with family and friends once my new car is ready
- The new iPhone (which I plan on buying after saving up money for four years!)
- A close friend's wedding (early next year)
What's your list looking like?