But did you know that the feeling of anticipation leading up to something can increase the sense of happiness you feel overall? In fact, research has shown that planning or looking forward to a trip can make you feel happier than actually going on the trip. It’s probably no surprise that exciting or positive experiences can make you happy. How can you make room for more of that in your life right now, not some time in the future when things are “perfect”? Why is having things to look forward to important? Spend some time thinking about what feels exciting or fun to you. You can make plans to see people you love, check out that book you’ve been meaning to read from your library app, take a low cost or free online class to learn something new – the list is endless. You don’t need to break the bank or go all out to give yourself things to look forward to. Giving yourself something to look forward to can be as simple as having your favorite warm beverage in the morning. There are lots of big ways to build anticipation, like planning a trip or setting goals, but there are also many smaller ways to let yourself feel a sense of anticipation. While we might not be able to make plans in quite the way we’re used to, there are still things we can do to find things to look forward to. If you’re feeling exhausted and defeated, that makes a lot of sense. We’re in the thick of winter, which can already bring up issues like Seasonal Affective Disorder, and we’re still in a pandemic.Īs we go through the waves of covid outbreaks, we keep experiencing the cycle of things opening back up and closing down again, and while it’s important to follow public health guidelines, it’s also really frustrating to keep getting your hopes up that things are going back to normal only to be let down again. It’s been a long time since we could live our lives in any sort of normal way, and so many people are feeling burned out. Why building anticipation is hard right now Instead of dreading something or worrying about how things are going to go wrong, anticipation lets you imagine what might happen if everything goes right.Įveryone experiences their emotions differently, but anticipation might feel like you have butterflies in your stomach, or you might feel more energized or jumpier than usual. Unlike anxiety, which is the fear of what may happen, anticipation is a feeling of excitement about what might be coming. How did it feel in your body? The sense of giddy excitement that comes with looking forward to something can help you feel more capable of dealing with what’s on your plate. Think of how you felt the last time you were really looking forward to something, or how you felt the night before a holiday or birthday as a kid.
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