WEBVTT - Aim for a few enjoyable moments

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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 just aim for a few enjoyable moments.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are in a situation that is likely to

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<v Speaker 1>be challenging, keeping your expectations low can keep you from

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<v Speaker 1>telling yourself a story that everything is terrible. Every summer,

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<v Speaker 1>I make a summer fun list. These are things I

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<v Speaker 1>want to do to make summer feel like summer, to

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<v Speaker 1>create memories and enjoy the season. I knew we would

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<v Speaker 1>be taking a family trip to the Virgin Islands this summer,

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<v Speaker 1>which was going to be a big adventure, but traveling

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<v Speaker 1>with a toddler in particular is always challenging, so I

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<v Speaker 1>said that my goal was to have at least a

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<v Speaker 1>few enjoyable moments. With that as the bar. We definitely passed.

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<v Speaker 1>There were several genuinely enjoyable moments. There were also some

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<v Speaker 1>rough patches, and I am sorry if you happen to

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<v Speaker 1>be sitting near me and my toddler on the flight

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<v Speaker 1>from St. Thomas to Newark, and I particularly extend my

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<v Speaker 1>apologies to the cleaning crew who had to deal with

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<v Speaker 1>the bag of goldfish crackers that he dumped on the

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<v Speaker 1>plane floor. If I was aiming for total bliss, being

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<v Speaker 1>up with a toddler one night from two am to

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<v Speaker 1>four am in my hotel room could leave me despondent.

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<v Speaker 1>Here I am on vacation and I'm miserable. Life is

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<v Speaker 1>horrible and terrible. But since I was just aiming for

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<v Speaker 1>a few enjoyable moments, I could think about seeing fish

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<v Speaker 1>through the clear bottom of a kayak one night, and

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<v Speaker 1>going on a sunset cruise one night, and seeing a

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<v Speaker 1>giant turtle while snorkeling. The narrative need not be all

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<v Speaker 1>good or all bad. It's just life. I have learned

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<v Speaker 1>that sort of stoicism over years of having little ones,

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<v Speaker 1>but I realized that sharing that mindset might be helpful.

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<v Speaker 1>When I blogged about my trip, our reader wrote that

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<v Speaker 1>she had been very unhappy about her recent family vacation

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<v Speaker 1>because of some rough spots, but when she saw that

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<v Speaker 1>my goal had just been having a few enjoyable moments,

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<v Speaker 1>it changed her perspective about the trip. Did her family

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<v Speaker 1>have at least a few enjoyable moments in the course

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<v Speaker 1>of their multi week road trip, Well, yes, yes they did.

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<v Speaker 1>They also had some tough spots, of course, but neither

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<v Speaker 1>needed to define the narrative. If you are going into

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<v Speaker 1>a situation that is theoretically supposed to be one but

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<v Speaker 1>might be challenging, it might help to set this as

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<v Speaker 1>your goal too. Just aim for a few enjoyable moments.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's a family wedding. It's supposed to be fun,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's quite possible that the airline will lose your luggage,

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<v Speaker 1>and the bride's uncle will do something inappropriate, and your

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<v Speaker 1>kid might start screaming in the middle of toast number seven.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are not careful, these points of evidence can

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<v Speaker 1>lead you to a story that the whole trip was

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<v Speaker 1>a disaster. But if you aim for just a few

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<v Speaker 1>enjoyable moments, you will probably succeed in seeing those. The

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<v Speaker 1>cake was uncommonly good for a wedding cake, there was

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<v Speaker 1>a beautiful sunset at the reception. You enjoyed talking to

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<v Speaker 1>the bride's other uncle, the one who was not so terrible.

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<v Speaker 1>Those things happened too, and so all is fine in

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<v Speaker 1>any case. As we often say on this podcast, low

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<v Speaker 1>expectations are easy to meet. Reality is what It is.

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<v Speaker 1>Better to have low expectations and wildly exceed them than

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<v Speaker 1>to hope for perfection and be constantly disappointed. We often

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<v Speaker 1>can't change reality, but we can change our mindset and

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<v Speaker 1>it really does make a difference in the meantime. This

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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