Hi, I'm Sam and welcome to Radio Headspace. Happy Tuesday. I recently received a question

from a listener asking how to plan for the future when we're constantly reminded to stay

present. And mindfulness is centered on finding joy in the present moment and we talk about

it a lot. But there's also a lot of joy that comes from looking forward to exciting events

in the future and taking time to actually enjoy the planning process. I remember reading

about a study that found that having something to look forward to increased happiness up

to three months before the event. When we have big things we look forward to like a trip

abroad and then smaller things like our morning coffee and when we develop habits we also

give ourselves something to look forward to. For me this is my nightly meditation practice.

I light a candle, close the door and just rest and stillness. What do you look forward to?

Maybe it's greeting your family when you come home from work or getting together with

friends. Maybe it's visiting a country that you've always dreamed about.

And considering how to optimize the happiness we get from experiences we can think of four

different factors. The anticipation we feel, savoring the experience, expressing our excitement

and joy with others and reflecting back on the event. And when we're anticipating an event

we can derive a lot of joy from the planning process like reading about the place we're

going to visit or looking through Pinterest for inspiration for a party that we're planning

for someone. When we can enjoy anticipating even more if we can let go of expectations

so that we're flexible and adaptable when the day comes. If you can't travel try making

a list of benefits that you get from traveling like disconnecting from your daily routine

and experiencing something new. There's a Swedish expression that I really like. They

say that sharing pain halves the pain and sharing joy doubles the joy. So take time to

...