The One-Day Syndrome and Cure

“One day I will take that trip.” “One day I will change my relationship.” “One day I’ll lose the weight.” “One day I’ll start exercising.” “One day I’ll relax and have fun.” “When my kids get older, I’ll focus on myself.” “One day I’ll go to Italy.” And on and on goes the one-day syndrome list. One day I will do something that will change my life, but not today. So, I ask you, why not today?

How many of us are stuck in the middle of that one-day syndrome just waiting for the right time to do something we’ve always wanted to do? When is one-day? Can someone call me on that day and say, “Okay, it’s one-day now. Go do your thing.” Will the date pop up on my iPhone calendar or let me know with some type of notification?

Why can’t today be one-day? What exactly are we waiting for? Always wanted to go back to school? Do it today! Always wanted to take a mental health day and have a spa day? Do it today! Always wanted to travel? Do it right now! Figure out what you need to do to achieve your “one day” dreams and go after them. Take the first step.

Maybe you are saying to yourself, “It’s not right now because I can’t afford it.” Or maybe you truly don’t have the time or resources to do some of the things on your one-day list. But what if you didn’t have to have those things to actually get the joy out of your one-day wish list?

What if you want to travel because you want to feel the joy of adventure? What if you want the day off because you just want to clear your head and find some peace and quiet? What if you want to go back to school in order to feel the accomplishment that comes with learning new things? Here’s the thing, you don’t have to wait for the perfect situation in order to experience the feeling!

How to Feel The Joy of “One Day” Today

Hear me out. What if you could actually get the feeling that comes from those experiences? Why can’t you be happy today? Why can’t you feel challenged and excited today? Feelings and emotions are rarely dependent on time, money, and resources. They are actually dependent on you choosing them. You get to choose your feelings, kind of like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

You don’t have to wait for “one-day” to be happy, excited, motivated, thrilled, angry, sad or any of it. You can have that emotion right this minute. Right now! Sure it would be nice to feel happy while you are flying to Italy, but maybe that can’t happen right now. So you either get to feel sad that you aren’t in Italy, which still won’t get you to Italy, or you can choose to be happy right now regardless of Italy.

One-day is today! Joyful emotions, gratitude, adventure, and fun are all accessible to you today. Why wait until you think it’s the perfect situation to experience those feelings? Why not choose to experience them now? You get to live your own virtual reality by choosing your emotions and thoughts at every turn. Why not choose the ones that make today one-day?

So figure out what emotions or feelings you are looking for and if you can’t get those feelings one way, find another way to get them. Maybe Italy is out but a fun, inexpensive local adventure with friends isn’t. The joy of adventure can be found in many ways, you just have to be creative to get there. Choose your life, choose your emotions, choose to make today be your one day.

Love,

Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC