I decided that I wanted to write something positive for a change. I had lots of positive feelings bubbling up but couldn’t get them to organize into something coherent. Then I saw the above writing prompt and decided this is a good place to start.
My ideal week. Actually, let’s be honest. We all have several ideas of what an ideal week would be depending on our energy levels. If I’m feeling high energy, I might want to go and do and see. If I’m low energy, I’d want to cocoon and recharge and comfort. So, let’s examine a couple of types of weeks I’ve had that have given me positive, pleasant feelings lately.
First, let’s start with what is most common for me. Being retired, I have more home time. I spend time with my husband and friends.
A typical ideal week would include time with my husband talking about our family, especially our son and his fiancée. Discussing the news, the comics, the letters to the editor, and the “dear Abby” type of letters in the newspaper. Planning our vacations. Since we’re both retired, we’re able to plan wonderful cruises and driving trips to places all over the world.
Time spent crocheting and knitting. I love creating afghans and children’s sweaters for new babies. I knit and crochet blankets for people I care for. Sometimes even for people I don’t even know but someone I care for knows. As I work on the project I think of the person and hope for love and good things for them. It brings me pleasure and peace while I do this.
No time spent cooking. I hate to cook. I don’t enjoy the act of cooking. I don’t enjoy figuring out what to make, gathering the ingredients, putting everything together, or serving it. Cleaning up after is just more work that goes with cooking. If I lived alone, I’d never cook again. So, an ideal week for me would mean I didn’t have to cook at all. That’s one of the things I like most about traveling.
Now, on to the high-energy ideal week. You can probably guess what that would mean. It would include lots of going places for pleasure. Most likely my husband and I would be travelling. And I would not be cooking!
We may be driving around someplace we’ve never been before; learning about a part of the U.S. or Canada that we’ve never seen before. We’ve enjoyed many such trips. There is so much to see and learn about the world around us if we only take the time to go.
Or we might be heading for a cruise. We have cruised to many destinations. Hawaii, Alaska, the British Isles, the Baltics, the Mediterranean, New Zealand and Australia. We still have many more on our list of to-dos. Panama Canal, Africa, back to Alaska, and so on.
If not traveling, I’d be spending time with friends having coffee, breakfast, lunch, or dinners. Talking and laughing about shared experiences and life’s foibles. Sharing our problems and big and small irritations. Knowing that I’m with someone I can share openly with and who will support me with love. And always leaving feeling better than when I arrived.
For me, any ideal week involves doing something for or with someone that I care about. That’s really what matters most.
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