Peak Moments Matter

Have you figured out the "peak moments" in your life?

If I were to ask you to define your "peak experiences" over the history of your life, which ones rank highest?

I had someone ask me this question. Over half of my personal peak moments were from vacations.

I noticed while shuffling through odd-and-end photos that the 2007 Christmas Card from my girlfriend had eight photographs on it. Five of those pictures were taken from vacations. Either the cruise to Mexico, the trip camping, or the photo of us dog-sledding in Alaska all stood out as peak moments from her year.

I've noticed in over 500 interviews over the past 5 years with couples and singles about their peak experiences in life that most people would say that 50% or more of their peak moments occur on vacation. I've also noticed that other high-quality time together is during our meal-time.

My family used to pray, then talk about their day around the dining table during family meal-times. It is a highly useful practice to help build consistency around family, know what's going on in everyone's life, and encourage each other and share in each other's lives.

Are you making the time you spend eating together a priority? Or do you just serve up dinner and everyone goes off and does their own thing? Try setting a specific time. Say "grace" if it suits you, then share with each other from your day.

Are you making the time to vacation together with the people you love? If not, why not book a fun trip to a spot on your bucket list (list of places to go before you "kick the bucket") and start building a new memory.

It might require a sacrifice to go: higher gas prices, taking time off of work, coordinating schedules, and costs of traveling all impact the ability to vacation. As I've always found, the people who vacation the most are those who MAKE time for vacations. If you set vacation time as a priority, you'll find the quality of your life will improve, too.

In all of my hundreds of interviews with couples, I find that the happiest couples are those who vacation at least three weeks a year. How much quality time are you spending together? Are you seeing the world with each other?

Peak moments matter. The memories you make both on vacation and around the table will be the memories you'll all talk about years from now. And, if you haven't been going, you can start making those memories today!
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Copyright © 2008 AspireNow. Photo: C. Andrews (my folks, Tami, and I eating some ribs on the cruise to Alaska - good times!). All rights reserved. Want more? Subscribe to the A-Blog.