Anniversary Positive Reminiscence - Flying High Surprise for Ken

I never thought it would happen to me. I am a true optimist. Denial is a sometimes a great defense mechanism. Sometimes, but not always.

I refuse to be old or label myself as old. That said, in the past many months, my body has been giving me a loud and clear message, “I am warning you, toots!”

Bullheaded and tenacious me does not want to give in. I did not want to pay full attention. But now I need to. You know I love blogging about positive psychology, but now is the time for me to practice what I preach and do some concerted self-care. Doctors are telling me in no uncertain terms I need to rest. Finally I am.

I am recycling a few of my favorite blogs in the next few months, unless I get back to my spunky self sooner. People are kindly bugging me, “Where are all your holiday FB photos?” I do hope to post some soon. I am living one day at a time.

I chose this blog from 4 years ago, as it is one of my favorites. Flying high with my adored hubby Ken, per an anniversary gift from my dear, precious friend, pilot, artist, business woman and philanthropist, Cheryl Lynn Wheeler.

Please don’t worry about me. I AM, repeat, AM, going to my energy and health back. I am smiling as I write this. I ain’t dying, and I always count my blessings. Remember, always to look for the good!

Thanks for all your love. I treasure you all.

May your 2018 be blessed.

Judy

How do you celebrate your BIG occasions?

Ok, I admit it. I am a romantic. I suck up the good times and savor them. I know when life’s turbulence bounces me around, I look back on the happy times of my life and am grounded. Positive reminiscence is the gift that keeps on giving. And you bet I have my camera velcroed in my hands, ready to record the reverie.

For our 25th anniversary, I wanted to create an adventure for Ken. I’ll get to that in a sec.

What is positive reminiscence, and why is it so important in your life?

Famed positive psychology researcher, Sonja Lyubomirsky, in her book, The How of Happiness, defines positive reminiscence as “…the ability to savor the positive experiences in your life. It is one of the most important ingredients of happiness.”

How to savor?

Think of savoring as having a past, present and future.

You savor the good old days together. Your meeting, your marriage, the birth of your kids, all the sweet milestones you have shared. In the present, you savor being with your partner by mindful listening. By being wholly with them and relishing your NOW together. You notice and smile when you got into fun FLOW. You express GRATITUDE in the present. And what about the future? You savor it by anticipating and fantasizing about what upcoming positive events you will create.

Now to the fun stuff.

Ken and were married in a real Tahitian ceremony in front of God, on Moorea, French Polynesia, Feb. 20, 1989. We were a few days shy of being legal in the USA, so we had a small family ceremony on March 8th. Lucky us, we have 2 dates to enjoy. In Moorea, after a full body massage, we donned Tahitian sheets and huge head pieces and neck adornments. I wished I had those photos scanned to share with you. I need to remind myself to do that and post someday when I am back in the USA.

For the 20th, I wrote Ken a positive memory for every year we were married. Overcompensating me, I had more than 25. I printed them out for him and added a little colorful art work. I stuck post it notes on the toilet (the first thing he would see!) and all around the condo. I surprised him with a few food and other treats I had brought with me when we came to Mexico in November. I had some cards for him, too. I also had our neon plaque, “Love” plugged in. Fun!

We had pseudo-celebrated our 25th and the 45th anniversary of my best friends in Delaware, Cheryl and Bob Nash, when the vacationed here just before our anniversary. A double delight! We went to new beaches, took boat rides and ate at new restaurants. Creating PV memories and planning more for next year, too.

That was well and good, but I needed something special.

Enter my lovely artist, entrepreneur, pilot, and philanthropist friend, Cheryl Wheeler. Cheryl and her generous entrepreneur hubby, John, also a pilot, really put the frosting on the cake for making magic 25th anniversary memories for Ken and me.

Cheryl picked us up, supposedly for lunch. Instead, we zoomed off to the PV airport to take an incredible jaunt in their Cirrus plane. Cheryl told me her flight instructor is the same man who taught Angela Jolie to fly. Angie has an older model plane just like Cheryl’s, too. How fun is that?

So here you see us in our positive reminiscing mode.

Celebrating the past, counting our blessings in the beauty of the present, and looking forward to fun future escapades.

How about you?

I hope you treat yourself and someone you love, or your fabulous friends, for that matter, to sublime positive reminiscing happiness.

Thanks to all of you who helped us celebrate with calls, emails, and Facebook frolics!