Happiness One Ohh One: Savoring

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With a recent purchase of Campbell's Burgundy Beef Stew, I received a rather unexpected and lovely sentiment.

The Kettle® style soup, it seems, intends to deliver "high quality ingredients" and "delicious flavor" for an experience I "will want to slow down and savor." It is a slow-cooked meal, and as I learn from the side label, "made with patience, not preservatives." Uh huh. Tell me more.

Unfortunately, during this time of the season, there aren't a lot of companies who are asking me to take a seat and sink my spoon into a thick and hearty bowl of goodness. Instead, in every café, market, and mall, I'm being told to ring in the New Year. I imagine that if the business of holidays continues evolving in the fashion it has been, the cues to prepare for our winter celebrations will appear even earlier. It's March! Buy your fruitcake while supplies last!

Perhaps if we are lucky, the time will come when the holiday consumer clock has been turned so far back that we actually prepare for a December holiday in December. We will, of course, be a whole year ahead of ourselves, but still.

I'm sure there are many earnest reasons for hurrying us along, for routinely offering us winter boots in July, for saying, "Where are your manners? Get rid of your pumpkins! The Easter Bunny is due to arrive any second!"

It is not my intention to prescribe an "appropriate" timeline for the anticipation of your holidays. I am a fan of build-up and excitement. Just not when it gets in the way of slow-cooking.

I want my holidays to be free of preservatives. I want them to have less hustle and more bustle with the business that comes from connecting with friends and family. More of the wondering about how to invite new people into the soup that is my life. One of the highlights of the first Thanksgiving was that strangers had a conversation.

Whatever holidays you embrace this time of year, I hope there's a lot of savoring. It is one concept I'm completely sold on.

This is the third in a series of courses from Delivering Happiness University.
Your assignment: Savor your "soup."
Extra credit: Share this post!

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shari

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