#10: Anticipation

I believe happiness comes from having most – but not all – of what you want. As humans, we’re built to need work, but we need our work to have a point, whether it’s re-tiling the bathroom or bringing forth the zombie apocalypse. We also need at least some of our goals to be definitely attainable rather than a slender hope. (As an unpublished author, I’m an expert when it comes to slender hopes.)

So here’s some awesome things I’m looking forward to, that I know are really going to happen:

Hot air balloon ride (next year).

Second honeymoon (next year).

Celebrating random holidays (I’ll be celebrating five thousand writing hours in about a month).

Growing a mint plant (I think I’ll steal a sprig from my neighbour when they’re out).

Making my version of mint julep – with my own mint leaves.

Re-eating yum cha (when I attempted to post the blog about yum cha awesomeness, the internet ate it. Thus, I shall have to do it again).

Secret # 5 (wouldn’t YOU like to know!)

Silly slippers.

Visiting my godparents.

Eating my husband’s much-acclaimed trifle for the first time (even though I’m almost certain I won’t like it).

Visiting my grandpa in October (technically, I’ll be visiting my ready-to-pop sister at the time, but they live in the same city).

Horseback riding for my birthday (next year). I’ve been wanting to go for a proper ride (as I’ve done in the past) for ten years!

Organising a zombie walk.

Going to the coast with my family (including my pregnant sister) in two months’ time.

Visiting a lighthouse while at the coast.

Secret # 6 (the supplier has now told me “stop calling us; we’ll call you” – but I’m still going to call them)

Being inside the healthy weight range (in a few weeks’ time).

Eating ravioli for lunch (in about 35 minutes).

I really don’t know what awesomenesses I’ll be doing this week. Right now I’m hungry and tired and grumpy, and I just counted five burn marks on my arms (note to self: stoves create heat). But after writing the above list, I feel a lot better. Today’s not so bad after all – and the future is shiny.

Play along at home: What are you looking forward to? If there isn’t anything twinkling pleasantly in the back of your mind, make something up – invite a friend over more than twenty-four hours in advance, or make a plan to eat chocolate in exactly one week’s time. Or reserve a great book at the public library. Tell people exactly what you want for your birthday this year, or make your own excellent plans in the spaces between everyone else’s. Read blogs you enjoy, and/or track down someone online who makes you laugh, and renew the friendship. Write a naughty and/or self-indulgent plan here in the comments, so you HAVE to do it or you’ll be a liar.