“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.”
~ Henry Clay
In Australia we have a quaint custom called a Lucky Dip. It is often found at fairs and school fetes. A box full of mystery gifts from which we can choose. Every gift is a prize, and part of the novelty is that the gift will be a surprise.
When I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure several years ago, and given a short life expectancy, I decided to make it a point to choose a ‘Lucky Dip’ for myself each week. I would gift myself a small action or adventure, or perhaps even a physical thing – the equivalent of stopping to smell life’s roses – so that if I died, I could know that I had been truly living in the midst of all of that time of uncertainty, and so that I could say that I had done my best to make the most of my life and known pleasure and emotional satisfaction. My list included things I could do ever if I was unwell, or had no money in my pocket. I was careful to honour my Lucky Dip every week. They proved a wonderful strategy for self-love and for developing gratitude and positive optimism in the face of adversity.
Last year I lost three friends to early deaths. As I sat on one friend’s bed in a palliative care unit, Angela sobbed in my arms about how she would never get to try the new restaurant she’d wanted to go to, or read all of those books, how she’d never again meet us for fish and chips and to take our dogs for a walk on the beach, or eat coconut gelati, or bushwalk or picnic, or sit around a bonfire on a crisp winter’s night. So many things she’d planned to do or thought about doing, and never got around to, because like most of us, Angela always presumed there would be plenty of time after the work was done, and the study, and the chores.
But we never know how long we’ve got. And the work is never done.
When I created my Year of ME Planner (ME stands for Manifesting Energies!) I made sure to incorporate the concept of a weekly (yep, every week) Lucky Dip, so that everyone working with the Planner would be able to smell life’s roses too.
My Planner is still available, and it’s the perfect tool for organising your days and your life into a meaningful and satisfying shape. It’s not too late for you to make the most of 2016!
If you’d like more information you can go here or straight to my shop.
Regardless, the idea of a regular Lucky Dip for your week is a nourishing self-care action. Here are some of my favourite ideas for Lucky Dips. Please feel free to share your own ideas in the comments section below, or over on our facebook page. Use the hashtag #luckydipme if you’re sharing on social media, so we can all find your ideas and pictures on facebook, instagram, twitter and pinterest.
- Go for a walk on the beach or somewhere in nature
- Take myself for a picnic
- Spend time in a cafe with my favourite hot beverage and a good book or magazine
- Try a new restaurant
- Go to a market or fair
- See a new movie
- Have an afternoon nap after a relaxing bath
- Pedicure, manicure or facial – in a salon or at home
- Eat out with friends
- Take a ferry ride
- Talk to a travel agent about holiday ideas
- Buy myself a bunch of flowers
- Go to the library and choose new books
- Wander a stationery or craft store
- Browse a book store
- Cruise the weekend garage sales
- Lie on the couch with my eyes closed and listen to my favourite CD
- Visit an art gallery
- Go to the movies
- Time for me to craft
- A baking afternoon
- Visit an old friend
- Visit my family
- Host a barbeque
- Play games online or on my iPad without any guilt
- Curl up with a good book, some chocolate and a pot of tea
- Invite friends over to play board games
- Travel my city like a tourist
- Wander through a park or garden
- Visit a plant nursery
- Spend time in my own garden
- Take my dog for a long walk
- Go shopping for a new outfit
- Watch my favourite DVD
- Prepare my favourite childhood food
- Have a writing date with friends
- Go to an art class
- Take a yoga class
- Make myself a piece of jewellery
- Visit a fabric store
- Lie on the bed and read cookbooks
- Bake or make something from a cookbook
- Lie on the grass and bust clouds
- Sit in the sun with a cold drink or an icecream
- Watch the waves at the beach
- Fly a kite
- Make or rearrange an altar in my home or in nature
- Play with my runes or oracle cards
- Make a crystal grid
- Go on a photo walk and take pictures of textures, colour and interesting things
- Take a train ride
- Sunday afternoon drinks with the neighbours
- Meet friends for coffee
- Finger-painting or playdough modelling with my friends’ kids
- Visit a quirky suburb or town
- Go for a drive somewhere new
- Work on a project that’s dear to me
- Plant some flowers
- Visit the farmers markets
- Spend time colouring, alone or with friends
- Visit a shrine, temple or old church – light a candle or some incense and say a prayer for all my loved ones. Sit in the energy for a while
- Look through old photos and letters
- Do something new with my hair
- Make a mandala
- Visit a look-out and enjoy the view
