Last week was my wedding anniversary. I wasn’t as prepared for it as I wanted to be, but I still wanted to do something to make it a special occasion.
I was discussing my goals for the week with my mastermind group as part of my Accelerator membership at The Focus Course. They asked what I could do practically that my wife would appreciate.
Immediately I had the thought to take the day off with and spend it home with the family doing projects around the house. But that sounded hard.
As I mentioned last week, I have been struggling the last little while with my OCD, and adding extra uncertainty didn’t sound like the best idea.
But my schedule was clear and I knew it would be meaningful if I could do it. And if I had to retreat for a bit, I figured it’s the thought that counts.
So when I went home that night, I told my wife I was going to take the next day off with no plans or expectations. I was just available to do whatever.
Ironically, that evening I got totally overwhelmed by the kids and had to head up to my room for a while. I was a little nervous about taking off the next day, and how things would go.
But I got up the next day, and just engaged. We tackled some household projects we’ve been wanting to do, and just worked together throughout the day. In the evening, we took the kids to Cornbelly’s, a local fair-type activity, which they loved. Finally, we went out to a nice family-owned Italian restaurant for a delicious dinner and talked for a while.
It was a glorious day.
And contrary to my expectations, it was not nearly as difficult as I thought. As I look back on my mood tracker, it was actually the best day of the week.
I was grateful to my mastermind group for the encouragement to turn my vague intention into a practical plan that was both meaningful and enjoyable.
I realized the gift I had really given my wife that day was the gift of flexibility. We were able to spend the day however it happened, without plans or expectations. That is typically extremely difficult for me, and I felt a deep sense of satisfaction at being able to do it.