Ritualize The Happy Parts Of Your Day

I love coffee. 

I REALLY love coffee. 

I’m not talking about a sugary blend of things that has some coffee beans thrown in. I’m not talking about something with creamer. I love COFFEE. I’m talking about taken black, dark roasted, carefully made coffee. 

If I’m being honest though, I am REALLY not great at making the type of coffee my baristas can slide across the counter to me. It’s not for a lack of trying either. I know how hot the water needs to be. I know how coarse the coffee beans need to be ground. I know the best way to make coffee in both my French press and my pour-over maker. 

Maybe one day I’ll finally figure out the tiny step I’m missing as I try to replicate what I drink in coffee shops. But for now, I’ve just accepted that my coffee is subpar. (Although, by non-coffee snob standards, I still make pretty good coffee.)

Even though I know the results in the end aren’t going to be as good as I wish they were, I still love making coffee. Drinking coffee makes me happy, but it’s the ritual of making it that makes me happiest. There’s just something settling about it. 

I don’t think we ritualize the happiest parts of our day enough. If it’s something that makes you smile or that you love, why not turn it into a bigger, more important production than it already is? 

While making my coffee is certainly the most ritualized part of my day, I’ve realized that I ritualize whatever I particularly enjoy doing. After all, a ritual truly just is a particular way of ordering a process. 

Gathering pens, highlighters, and notebooks and making a good breakfast before I sit down with my Bible in the morning is one example. Getting snuggled on the couch with a good drink and snack in hand to read is another. I’ve even ritualized going to the gym for my daily workout (although whether or not that’s as enjoyable as the rest of my day is questionable).

If something about your day makes you happy, emphasize it. Turn it into a peak moment, a ritual. When you ritualize something, you’re able to enjoy the process or context surrounding it, not just the thing itself.