Calendars
This is the time of year you see a bevy of calendars on sale for the New Year. There is no lack of imagination as to what is put on them to make them the perfect gift for someone. Which reminds me of a story . . .
My late friend, Dick Schultheis and I were having a “woe is me,” back and forth conversation in the early ’90’s about our lives. It was the garden variety “piss and moan” exchange. Somewhere in the middle of our chat, I got this gift of awareness from The Grasshopper:
“A quality life is made up of quality moments. It’s that basic.”
That thought spurred this idea. I said to Dick, “I’ve just come up with a way to measure genuine success.” He laughed and said, “OK, let’s hear it.”
My idea was to buy a calendar and at the end of each day you were to record the number of “warm fuzzies” you had that day. I called it the “Warm Fuzzies Calendar.” A warm fuzzy was defined as the number of pleasant sensations you noticed that day. You were to enter each one on the calendar.
I said you could also compare yourself to anyone else who would take the challenge to record their WF’s for a month’s time. The winner would be the person with the most warm fuzzies. Sure, you could lie but that’s like cheating at Solitaire. What’s the point?
I went on to explain that we could eliminate conditions as being the necessary components of having a warm fuzzy. That meant you could do a comparison with people who had desirable things or conditions in their life that you didn’t, and find out where they fell on the warm fuzzy chart. My sense at that time was that conditions had very little to do with the warm sensations people experienced on any given day. I became even more convinced as the years went on. It turned into a fun conversation that I will always remember with a guy I’ll never forget.
You may not find a Warm Fuzzies Calendar at Barnes and Noble but that doesn’t mean you can’t make one. The closest I’ve seen is a journal. It’s from Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret. She calls it The Secret Gratitude Book.
My sense is that notating what you are grateful for will bring you many warm fuzzies.
However you do it, the practice has value. Recording these pleasant sensations is an exercise in being in tune with your body and that always pays dividends. It keeps you centered and in the moment and chases away that holiday favorite, “The Grinch Who Stole My Peace of Mind.”
All the best,
John
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