NEW YORK — What makes a day “perfect?” Of course, the answer can be quite different from person to person, but a recent survey sought to find out common characteristics of an ideal day for the average person. As the results showed, we typically enjoy just 15 truly perfect days each year, and it’s often the most trivial activities that make us feel the best.
The survey of 2,000 American adults, commissioned by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC), found the average person would be happiest waking up at 8:15 in the morning. A perfect day would entail a sunny, spring-like forecast with temperatures reaching 74 degrees, and respondents being able to enjoy three hours outside. They see themselves spending four hours with their family and three hours with friends, then coming home and hopping on the couch — where they’d use another three hours watching television.
When all is said and done, the perfect day would end with an individual hopping into bed at 10:50 p.m.
“Who doesn’t love sleeping in, sunny skies and spending time with loved ones,” says Vicki De Bruin, a spokesperson for the USHBC, in a statement. “These simple pleasures put the biggest smiles on our faces – and it’s even better when we know these seemingly indulgent treats are actually really good for us.”
The survey also polled respondents on various “mood boosters” that bring enough uplift to brighten cloudier days.
The top three mood boosters? According to the survey, most participants agreed that finding money in their pocket (58%), sleeping in without waking up to an alarm (55%), and lying in bed listening to the rain (51%) were sure-fire ways to improve their days. Not far behind was being on the receiving end of a small act of kindness (49%), petting a dog (48%), and performing a small act of kindness for someone else (47%).
Music and weather had large effects on mood, too. Almost half of the respondents (46%) said they immediately perk up when they hear sunny weather is in the forecast. Another 37% said listening to their favorite album boosted their mood. The Beatles were voted the most “mood-boosting” band by participants, with The Eagles and Michael Jackson rounding out the top three.
All in all, when asked to quantify the number of “good” days and “perfect” days, the average participant calculated that they have 204 good days and 15 perfect days per year. It may sound like a low number, but perhaps setting the bar high for an ideal day makes it more rewarding when it happens.
Here’s a look at the top 40 “mood boosters,” according to the survey:
Finding money in your pocket you didn’t know you had 58%
Being able to sleep in with no alarm set 55%
Lying in bed listening to rain fall outside 51%
A small gesture of kindness from somebody in your life 49%
Petting a dog 48%
Performing a small gesture of kindness for somebody in your life 47%
Realizing it’s a beautiful, sunny day 46%
Long, hot shower 44%
A meaningful, long hug from somebody you love 42%
Seeing a friend you haven’t seen in a long time 42%
The first sip of coffee of the day 41%
Plopping down on your bed after a long, tiring day 40%
Walking into an air-conditioned building on a hot day 40%
Baked treats (i.e. fresh blueberry pie) 40%
Listening to your favorite album 37%
Watching the sunset or sunrise 37%
Holding hands with someone you love 36%
Getting new clothes 35%
Cuddling your partner before getting up to start your day 34%
Cuddling with your pet after a long day 33%
Waking up to birds chirping 33%
Petting a cat 33%
Cooking your favorite meal 31%
Happening across a smell you enjoy, from cookies to the smell of rain 31%
Exchanging a genuine smile with a stranger 31%
Sunlight on your skin 31%
Getting a new haircut 30%
Finding a good new book to read 29%
Having a pleasant conversation with a total stranger 28%
Meeting a new person you genuinely like 28%
Eating a healthy food that makes you feel good about yourself 28%
Long soak in the tub 27%
Going to the movies 27%
Receiving a bouquet of flowers from someone you care about 25%
Going for a walk alone 25%
A lazy drive to nowhere in particular 25%
Having a nice, long stretch after sitting for awhile 24%
Ordering delivery 24%
Nice glass of beer or wine after a long day 24%
Realizing you’re going to have a good hair day 23%
Only Trump can deliver perfection.
Just love it when you talk dirty.
It has been 10,140 days since I quit drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. I count those days as being perfect, in the truest sense of the word.
Well maybe not the best but the longest.
Three hours on the TV…….. no thanks…… must suck to be miserable
15 perfect days a year? Believe me, that number gets a lot bigger after you retire.
What a pathetic column. Every day you wake up is a perfect day. This must have been written by a snowflake…
These people sound hopeless.
Sex, drugs, rock and roll, driving fast, guns, cigarettes, vodka, fiery explosions, and . . . kittens.
Exploding kittens? My. My.
Actually a perfect day would be waking up to no more leftist juvenile delinquint goons around. All leaving our Country for Nicaragua. Which is the kind of Country they want ours to be! Are you readng this Bernie and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
Fifteen perfect days a year? Sounds like a stretch to me!
EVERY DAY is a ‘perfect day’ for me because I am ALIVE and WELL and MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, I have ALMIGHTY GOD in my life every minute of every day! When you have come as close to the edge of the abyss as I have – more than a few times – and you have been Blessed because He heard your cries and your prayers for Salvation and Redemption and He pulled you back and away from certain death, everyday life could not POSSIBLY be any more PERFECT! Thank You Jesus, Thank You Lord! And this is not Bible thumping or proselytizing – it is LIFE!
The morning of November 9, 2016 – can’t get much better than that!
It certainly was a pleasant surprise to me!
Hello Abby, how are you?
Just fine, thank you.
No surprise to me at all.
Amen Brother!
actually midnight Nov 8th was pretty good – I haven’t seen that many long faces on TV at one time since JFK’s funeral.
I sat in a SoCal bar most of election night 2016 and it was a treat to watch people’s faces change as the news started coming in…
They were sooo sure that HRC had it in the bag, but then… ;o)
Every time I hear the Beatles I feel happy.
Every day that I awake and Very Stable Genius Donald J. Trump is President Of The United States Of America is PERFECT. Leftist hyperbole and hysteria affirms the perception.
I love turning on CNN every now and then to see what Fake ‘sky is falling’ Crisis they are promoting for that week.
I can’t bear to give them even a fraction of a second of Nielsen’s ratings. I’m happy to find out on the net what kind of irrational, hyperbolic rantings I missed. LOL
CNN is still broadcasting?? Next you’ll be telling me that MSNBC still exists ;o)
top ten at best!
I quit work, their “perfect day” describes what I do daily.
Every day we live in today’s world is better than most people’s entire lives throughout most of history. Go back 200 years. The richest people on the planet couldn’t buy things so many people take for granted today: Refrigerators, ovens with precise temperature controls, air conditioning, recorded music, cars, the internet, supermarkets with 100,000 items, the list goes on and on and on. I get so sick of people who have all this bitching about what they don’t have rather than appreciating what they do have.
Any day with a two hour nap is perfect. guy McClung, Texas
What a ridiculous “study”
Absent from the list – sex!
Exactly. Must’ve been tough trying to find all those asexual people to question.
Every day I wake up is already a perfect day.