WEBVTT - Record what makes each day special

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to record what makes each day special.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the most common observations I've heard from people

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<v Speaker 1>about this spring's long season of social distancing is that

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<v Speaker 1>life started to feel like the movie Groundhog Day. The

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<v Speaker 1>main character lives the same day over and over again.

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<v Speaker 1>Without the usual markers of time, days can merge into

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<v Speaker 1>each other, each indistinguishable from the last. Quarantines are obviously

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<v Speaker 1>extreme examples of this, but even during normal times, people

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<v Speaker 1>can get caught up in the daily grind. Tuesday's commute

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<v Speaker 1>is indistinguishable from Thursday's commute, and you have to look

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<v Speaker 1>at the calendar as you wonder is it Friday yet?

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<v Speaker 1>But today is not Groundhog Day. Each day can be

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<v Speaker 1>its own little jewel. Noticing and writing down what makes

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<v Speaker 1>each day distinctive helps us value all our days during

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<v Speaker 1>disjointed or normal times. In April, our Jewish friends celebrated

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<v Speaker 1>Passover at the Statar. The youngest person traditionally asks why

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<v Speaker 1>is this night different from all other nights? The response

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<v Speaker 1>focuses on features of the meal that commemorate the deliverance

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<v Speaker 1>of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Now, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>Passover is a major holiday, and so of course this

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<v Speaker 1>night is different from other nights. But as I wrote

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<v Speaker 1>in my book Off the Clock, I believe this is

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<v Speaker 1>a worthy question for ordinary days too. What distinguishes this

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<v Speaker 1>day today from all other days of my life? Even

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<v Speaker 1>if you happen to be sheltering in place? What distinguishes

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<v Speaker 1>this day from all other days of sheltering in place?

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<v Speaker 1>We can think of all kinds of distinctions. Today is

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<v Speaker 1>different because we made s'mores around the firepit. Today is

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<v Speaker 1>different because Uncle Rob had a virtual birthday party and

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<v Speaker 1>every family on the call had made their own chocolate cake,

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<v Speaker 1>which is Uncle Rob's favorite. Today is different because I

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<v Speaker 1>rearranged the furniture in the guest room so it's more

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<v Speaker 1>conducive to my working from home. Today is different because

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<v Speaker 1>we hiked a new trail. Today is different because I

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<v Speaker 1>colored my own hair for the first time. Today is

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<v Speaker 1>different because I figured out how to edit a video.

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<v Speaker 1>Today is different because we received our first vegetable delivery

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<v Speaker 1>from a local farm. Today is different because the kids

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<v Speaker 1>taught the dog to shake hands. Today is different because

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<v Speaker 1>the lilacs started blooming. These are not life changing differences,

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<v Speaker 1>but there are enough to make the days special and

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<v Speaker 1>distinct and worthy of notice if we choose to notice them.

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<v Speaker 1>So set a time each day to record what makes

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<v Speaker 1>each day special. Maybe as part of your dinner routine

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<v Speaker 1>you could ask your family to share the day's gems,

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<v Speaker 1>or at bedtime you can jot down these distinctions in

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<v Speaker 1>a journal. Notice them, celebrate them. Because though all time passes,

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<v Speaker 1>when life is ultimately short, it's a miserable bargain to

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<v Speaker 1>wish time away. Each morning we wake up to new possibilities,

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<v Speaker 1>it behooves us to value each day we are given.

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<v Speaker 1>And by the way, there's a sneaky little upside to

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<v Speaker 1>recording what makes each day special. Once you know you'll

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<v Speaker 1>need to write something down, you realize that you can

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<v Speaker 1>engineer special things into your life. You can set an

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<v Speaker 1>intention for something worth remembering. You see nothing particularly promising

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<v Speaker 1>on the calendar, so you elect to cook a new dish,

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<v Speaker 1>go for a walk by the lake, or FaceTime a

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<v Speaker 1>relative you haven't talked with in a while. Or maybe

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<v Speaker 1>today will be different because it's the day you start

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<v Speaker 1>recording what makes each day special. And just like that,

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<v Speaker 1>today is different from all other days, just as you intended.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H m

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<v Speaker 1>hm