This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing…
…I will purposefully do one pleasurable thing every day.
From the list of 113 activities below, I will choose one different pleasurable thing that I can do each day and plan which day I will do them. Each time I put one of the activities into practice, I will acknowledge my accomplishment, however small. I will observe how I felt before, during and after the activity to help myself become aware of what kinds of things lift my mood more than others.
It can be hard to start doing pleasurable things if we have been down or disconnected for a while. So I might plan small steps to begin with and scale back the length of time I plan on doing each activity for – e.g. it might be easier to start with attempting a 5-minute activity than an hour-long one. The goal for this week is to start by doing just trying one thing each day, regardless of how I feel. If the idea of every day is hard, I’ll just do one or two days. It doesn’t even need to work, the point is just to practice doing it and get used to doing it. If it’s unfamiliar, it probably won’t start being enjoyable until I’m used to doing it.
Once I am comfortable doing pleasurable things every day. I will add ‘Just One Pleasurable Thing’ to my Personal Coping Kete along with a short list of some of my favourite things. Then, in moments of stress and distress, I will try doing just one pleasurable thing to shift the way I am feeling in the moment. It’s good to have a mini-list there because it can be ultra hard to think of pleasurable things to do when we are in a bad space.
113 Pleasurable Activities
- Soaking in the bathtub
- Planning my career
- Collecting things (coins, shells, etc.)
- Recycling old items
- Going to a movie
- Jogging, walking
- Thinking I have done a full day’s work
- Lying in the sun
- Planning a career change
- Listening to others
- Reading magazines or newspapers
- Hobbies (stamp collecting, model building, etc.)
- Spending an evening with good friends
- Planning a day’s activities
- Meeting new people
- Remembering beautiful scenery
- Going to the gym, doing aerobics
- Thinking how it will be when I finish school
- Getting out of debt/paying debts
- Practising karate, judo, yoga
- Repairing things around the house
- Working on my car (bicycle)
- Remembering the words and deeds of loving people
- Having quiet evenings
- Taking care of my plants
- Going swimming
- Doodling
- Exercising
- Collecting old things
- Going to a party
- Playing golf
- Playing soccer
- Flying kites
- Having discussions with friends
- Having family get-togethers
- Going camping
- Singing around the house
- Arranging flowers
- Going to church, praying (practising religion)
- Going to the beach
- Thinking I’m an OK person
- A day with nothing to do
- Going ice skating, roller skating/blading
- Sketching, painting
- Doing embroidery, cross stitching
- Going birdwatching
- Singing with groups
- Playing musical instruments
- Doing arts and crafts
- Making a gift for someone
- Buying CDs, tapes, records
- Watching boxing, wrestling
- Planning parties
- Cooking, baking
- Going hiking, bush walking
- Writing books (poems, articles)
- Going out to dinner
- Discussing books
- Sightseeing
- Early morning coffee and newspaper
- Playing tennis
- Watching my children (play)
- Going to plays and concerts
- Catch up with an old friend
- Daydreaming
- Watching videos or DVDs
- Going bike riding
- Completing a task
- Thinking about my achievements
- Eating gooey, fattening foods
- Photography
- Star gazing
- Reading fiction
- Being alone
- Writing diary/journal entries or letters
- Cleaning
- Reading non-fiction
- Dancing
- Thinking “I did that pretty well” after doing something
- Meditating
- Having lunch with a friend
- Going to the hills
- Playing cards
- Having a political discussion
- Solving riddles/puzzles
- Seeing and/or showing photos or slides
- Knitting/crocheting/quilting
- Shooting pool/Playing billiards
- Dressing up and looking nice
- Reflecting on how I’ve improved
- Talking on the phone
- Going to museums, art galleries
- Lighting candles
- Having coffee at a cafe
- Getting/giving a massage
- Saying “I love you”
- Thinking about my good qualities
- Having a spa, or sauna
- Going skiing
- Going canoeing or white-water rafting
- Going bowling
- Doing woodworking
- Fantasising about the future
- Doing ballet, jazz/tap dancing
- Debating
- Having an aquarium
- Going horseback riding
- Going rock climbing
- Thinking about becoming active in the community
- Making jigsaw puzzles
- Playing with my pets
- Having a barbecue
- Rearranging the furniture in my house
These activities were taken from a longer list by an unknown author found in this great online article by Elisha Goldstein, which also happens to have some excellent tips on putting pleasurable activities into action when they feel like the last things we want to do.
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