Meaningful Returns

If you were to find yourself in my parents’ home one evening when my little sister happened to be there, you would almost assuredly witness what I call Scheming About Tomorrow’s Breakfast.

Scheming About Tomorrow’s Breakfast with my little sister is a magical thing. It’s digging through the pantry to see what ingredients are available, it’s scouring cookbooks and Pinterest for a recipe that strikes your fancy, and in the case of my little sister, it probably involves some experienced expert tinkering with the recipe.

My most recent experience with Scheming About Tomorrow’s Breakfast involved marinating chicken overnight in some sort of honey and Sriracha mixture, making a delicious waffle batter, and then eating way too much of the finished Chicken and Waffles product. (To be clear, my sister did all the work, and I did most of the eating.)

The human mind is fascinating. Social scientists and psychologists have figured out that the happiness we derive from experiential purchases (over and above material ones) is due in great part to the anticipation of the experience. In fact, during the anticipation phase–that is, prior to experiencing the experience–we often exhibit at least as much, if not more, happiness than we do during the experience itself.

What does this mean? Well, we should all be Scheming About Tomorrow’s Breakfast! The planning and dreaming and advanced savoring of experiences, whether cheap ones like breakfast or more expensive ones like vacations–these are key ingredients to a life well-lived.

So get together with the people you love, and start using your money to do more things, not just buy more things.