6 Ingredients For A Perfect Day

Saturday. The first day of the weekend. Hopefully your Saturday is a day that is a bit less rigid in its expectations and full of more “want tos”, than “have tos”. And hopefully, this Saturday you are able to engage in something that brings you complete and utter happiness. So what would this type of day look like?  What would the perfect day be like for you, if you could design it from head to toe?
While everyone’s perfect day will be uniquely their own, there are six ingredients that will ensure that you indeed will have a wonderful day exactly to your liking.

When asked what he would do with one perfectly healthy day, Morrie Schwartz, of the beloved memoir Tuesdays with Morrie stated without hesitation:

“‘Let’s see . . . I’d get up in the morning, do my exercises, have a lovely breakfast of sweet rolls and tea, go for a swim, then have my friends come over for a nice lunch.  I’d have them come one or two at a time so we could talk about their families, their issues, talk about how much we mean to each other.      

‘Then I’d like to go for a walk, in a garden with some trees, watch their colors, watch the birds, take in the nature that I haven’t seen in so long now.

‘In the evening, we’d all go to a restaurant with some great pasta, maybe some duck--I love duck—and then we’d dance the rest of the night.  I’d dance with all the wonderful dance partners out there, until I was exhausted.  And then I’d go home and have a deep, wonderful sleep.’”  

So what does your perfect day look like? What events, activities, pleasures, people, would you include?  Would it be extravagant or simple, full of spontaneity or planned, lively or low-key?

Regardless of what it looks like, the end result, the feeling that everyone is trying to attain is happiness, or rather contentment with an added peaceful mind. 

As I was reading through The Happiness Project where studies show there are five needs that need to be met in order to achieve the state of happiness and/or contentment: the need to feel secure, to feel good at what we are doing, to be loved, to feel connected to others and to have a strong sense of control, I began to see these needs reflected in the simplistic day Morrie described.

Keeping in mind the simplicity of Morrie’s day and the five needs to acquire in order to reach this utopia, here are the 6 necessary ingredients to your next perfect day whether it be today, tomorrow or a month from now.

So grab a pencil and notepad and jot down, according to the following instructions, exactly how you would design your day.


1.   Allow Your Body Clock To Do Its Job

Whether you choose to listen to your body or not, it is always telling you what it needs. So on your perfect day, turn off the alarm clock and wake up when your body feels it is ready.  This goes for naps as well.  If you’re tired in the middle of the day, take a nap. 


2.   Do Something Invigorating

Try to incorporate an event in your day, such as bicycling, walking, yoga, anything that gets your heart pumping and the blood flowing.   View it as a way to energize you so that you will be better equipped to enjoy rest of the day that lay ahead.

3.   Spend Time With Someone You Love

At some point doing your day, you need to feel connected to others, and what people are better for you to feel connected to than the ones you love.  Grab a bite to eat, go out for a morning brunch or meet up with them for drinks as a way of bringing even more pleasure into your life.


4.   Accomplish Something

Many people may have a guilty conscious whenever they allow themselves time to do what they desire.  As a way to alleviate this, do something that needs to be completed at some point during your perfect day.  It doesn’t have to be a ginormous task, such as cleaning the windows, but think of something that will make you feel less burdened upon its completion.  Possible tasks: loading the dishwasher, cleaning a room or two in the house, water your plants or iron your clothes.  After all, you may need that fabulous piece of clothing for the next item on this list.

5.   Do Something That Makes You Feel Special

Don’t be afraid to indulge your passions. Attend the opera, a play or movie.  Go out to a restaurant that you only visit on special occasions, allow yourself to purchase those pair of shoes in the window you’ve been dreaming about, get a makeover or splurge on the special ingredients for a one of kind meal.

6.   Learn Something

Choose to be inspired today.  Look for inspiration in a magazine, book or newspaper.  Find inspiration during your invigorating hike in the woods or people watching on the street.  Search and you will find it.  There is something you can be taught and aspire to learn everyday if only you open your eyes. 

So what does your day look like?  I would love to hear the activities that would make up your perfect day, or anything you feel should be added.

Here’s hoping you’ll see your perfect day come into fruition in the near future.  Cheers!

Images: (1) Cat House Beds (3) Slice of Pink (5) Photo Bucket 

The Nourishment of Books

Books for me are akin to a bank account overflowing with wealth. There is a genuine comfort in knowing that I have, within my reach, a book to get lost in or to learn from or even to simply gaze within all dependent on my mood. Whether it be a classic such as Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird or a tearful, but at the same time uplifting memoir like Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, there is tranquility in knowing I can always take my thoughts somewhere else.

During my days in graduate school, I came to realize that having a solitary book upon my bed stand was equal to having not one. I remember vividly my mentor's description of the many books beside her bed stand. "A book of every genre because I'm never quite sure what my mood will be at the end of the day. All I know for certain is that I will need a book to end it." I envisioned two or three stacks, or should I say piles, of books alongside her bed. Although I never saw it, her description was motivation enough for me to slowly begin to relinquish the least bit of guilt for having my own mini-library beside my bed.

Photo: Elle Decor

As the years have passed, my own pile has grown, shrunk and grown again, depending upon how quickly I keep up. Currently I have Muriel Barbery's Gourmet Rhapsody, Mireille Guiliano's French Women for All Seasons, Peter Mayle's Toujours Provence, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (the first cookbook I have ever read in bed!) and three other books from the library that looked interesting (I already know I'm going to have to exhaust all of my renewals).

Regardless of how many books I have or how many times I have read my favorites, the beauty of books is that there is always a plethora of new ones to explore. Maybe that's why books are such a comfort, because it is understood that they will always be there, dependable like a loyal pup. There is one new release in particular that I am anxious to get my hands on that becomes available tomorrow, and while it is sitting on my Amazon Wish List, I hope to have it sometime soon delivered to my door. For women who struggle, strive and hopefully succeed in having it all, I am curious to see how exactly she does it, Mika Brzezinski's All Things At Once. If anyone has read it and has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Here's to happy reading, and may you find exactly what you need at the end of your day sitting upon your bed stand tonight!