Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to take one minute for anticipation. Pushing
Speaker 1: a little treat forward, just a bit, can extend your
Speaker 1: pleasure and make the experience more fun. Sometimes in the afternoon,
Speaker 1: I like to make myself a cup of tea, and
Speaker 1: I've been trying different brands, and I recently bought one
Speaker 1: that came with a more elaborate set of instructions than
Speaker 1: the usual heat water, steep the tea bag routine. This
Speaker 1: one noted that while the water was heating, you should
Speaker 1: take a moment for anticipation. I guess of the great
Speaker 1: tea experience that was about to come. It's a little silly,
Speaker 1: but on the other hand, it's not a bad idea.
Speaker 1: These days, you can get a lot of what you
Speaker 1: want really quickly. I'm old enough to remember having to
Speaker 1: wait for special movies like The Wizard of Oz to
Speaker 1: be played on TV, or driving around hoping to hear
Speaker 1: a new song on the radio. These days, you just
Speaker 1: download or stream whatever you want whenever you want. No
Speaker 1: one particularly likes waiting, but anticipation is a special kind
Speaker 1: of waiting. There's a much more exciting connotation to this
Speaker 1: waiting than standing in line at the d m V.
Speaker 1: It is waiting eagerly for something good you know is coming.
Speaker 1: When we anticipate something, we feel some of the same
Speaker 1: pleasure we will during the event itself, only the pleasure
Speaker 1: can last much longer. Taking a minute to anticipate the
Speaker 1: tea means we're enjoying the tea for a minute longer
Speaker 1: than we would we slow down. We notice some treats
Speaker 1: deliberately build the waiting into the process of consumption. For
Speaker 1: a while, I was really into these dark chocolate covered
Speaker 1: frozen banana slices. You had to take them out of
Speaker 1: the freezer and then let them sit for a minute
Speaker 1: or two to thaw if you didn't want to break
Speaker 1: your teeth. That extra minute kept me from gobbling the
Speaker 1: chocolates down without savoring them. I don't know if those
Speaker 1: baby Bell cheeses have to be wrapped in those waxes
Speaker 1: or not, but the process of unwrapping the cheeses makes
Speaker 1: the snack more of a ritual than it otherwise would be.
Speaker 1: We can build a moment for anticipation into all sorts
Speaker 1: of things. If you see an email from a friend,
Speaker 1: take a minute to think about your friend and how
Speaker 1: much you enjoy spending time together before you open the note.
Speaker 1: If you subscribe to a magazine, take a minute to
Speaker 1: look at the cover headlines and peruse the table of
Speaker 1: contents and think about what you'd like to read first
Speaker 1: before you dive in. Maybe don't start the new season
Speaker 1: of a series as soon as it's available. Take a
Speaker 1: day or two and designate a time to start watching.
Speaker 1: You'll stretch out your enjoyment. After all, Eventually the good
Speaker 1: thing will be over. Eventually the Christmas presents will be unwrapped,
Speaker 1: the lights will come down, the chocolate will all be consumed.
Speaker 1: Building in a moment for anticipation allows us to push
Speaker 1: that eventuality forward and stretch the time before the good
Speaker 1: thing is over into a higher proportion of our moments.
Speaker 1: So today, think about what good thing you can push
Speaker 1: forward just a little. I don't believe in forcing hardships
Speaker 1: on ourselves for no good reason. Life is hard enough
Speaker 1: as it is. But pushing something good forward a little
Speaker 1: doesn't introduce a hardship. It maximizes pleasure, which I tend
Speaker 1: to think is a good thing in the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.
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