Life is full of small pleasures that can boost your mood, reduce your stress, and enhance your well-being. But how often do you notice and appreciate them? In this article, you will learn how to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and appreciation for the little things that make life enjoyable and meaningful.
Small pleasures are the everyday moments, experiences, or objects that bring you joy, satisfaction, or comfort. They can be as simple as a warm cup of tea, a friendly smile, a good book, or a beautiful sunset. They can also be more personal, such as a compliment, a hug, a joke, or a hobby. Small pleasures are not necessarily expensive, rare, or extraordinary. They are often overlooked, taken for granted, or forgotten in the hustle and bustle of life.
I would like to say small pleasures for me would be having time to watch my favourite series, playing with my daughter, watching my daughter dance and draw, and myself doodling or day dreaming about new stories.
I find simple joys in indulging in an ice cream treat after a long day at work, revisiting childhood video games through an emulator, spending time with kids in my neighbourhood, or escaping to the terrace to immerse myself in a good book.
The older I become, the more I realize that small pleasures are the very fabric of life, and a day shouldn't pass without savoring a few. Whether it's enjoying a sunrise, walking in the park, listening to music, pausing for a cup of tea (coffee works, too and wine is divine), these small moments are elixir for the spirit, fueling both creativity + productivity and putting our problems in perspective. As important - if not more so - than your daily bread and for me, a real source of happiness.
For me it is about realizing that there is beauty and wonder all around us and within us all the time. All I need to do is to take the time to slow down and listen and feel and appreciate this in my heart and I am full of love and gratitude.
In my experience, my small pleasures include time to walk my 10-year old Beagle during the work week and follow her pace, not mine because of the next meeting. Other small pleasures include quick check in’s with my colleagues and family members who live across the world.
Small pleasures are important because they can have a positive impact on your mental and physical health. Research has shown that noticing and appreciating small pleasures can increase your happiness, optimism, resilience, and self-esteem. It can also lower your stress, anxiety, depression, and blood pressure. By focusing on the good things in your life, you can counteract the negativity bias, which is the tendency to pay more attention to the bad than the good. You can also enhance your sense of meaning and purpose, as well as your relationships with others.
One thing I've found helpful is the acknowledgement that small things to/for one may not be the same for another. Whether it's listening to music, walking barefoot in your yard, being close to water or watching clouds, it's crucial to find out what your's are because life is up. It's down. It's quiet and other times it's loud. What's key is to not encroach upon someone else's freedom to pursuit their own. Often times in the hustle and bustle of life we can get caught up in the rut of 'have to's' and leave little to no time for 'want to's.' Small pleasures are our ways of keeping sanity, protecting our minds, preventing burnout, etc. Don't take today for granted. We may all look up one day and realize the small things were really big.
It’s gives satisfaction for small time,small happiness moments in every person life is always important for delivery good work and always motivated and never demotivated
It helps you to come out of daily grinding. We all are living in a fast paced world and these pleasures help you to slow down and witness the blessings you have
Small pleasures can change moods if only for a few moments. From feeling sad, to not so sad; from not so sad, to making us smile;from making us smile, to laughing out loud; from LOL, to feeling happy; from feeling happy, to being happy.
As professionals we relentlessly pursue major achievements and often overlook the magic of tiny moments. Small pleasures can really anchor us in the present, in the now. It can encourage a pause or gratitude. If you think about it, our lives are not measured by the number of professional achievements but rather by the sum of what may seem like insignificant moments. It's the little things that make big days. .
Cultivating an appreciation for small pleasures is not difficult, but it does require some intention and practice. To help you develop this habit, be mindful of the present moment and observe your senses. Keeping a gratitude journal can also be useful in reflecting on the small pleasures that you experienced. Additionally, sharing your small pleasures with others can increase your joy and strengthen your connections. Lastly, celebrating your small pleasures can reinforce your positive emotions and motivate you to seek more of them. You can do this by rewarding yourself, expressing your happiness, or creating rituals or traditions that involve your small pleasures.
Go into nature, it’s free, and wonder. Don’t complicate things, just be in that moment, walk or stand still or lie down. Look at green any green will do.
Be observant...listen...look around you...use your different senses I wanted to just post the above because I believe in being brief and its forcing me to write more here....interesting.
To cultivate an appreciation for small pleasures, follow these simple steps: From time to time, slow down, stop for a moment, and take a long and deep breath. Then ask your Self this question: “How am I being in this moment”? Now, be honest with your Self . If you would allow your Self to “be”, you will find that you are, at the very least , good enough for now. With this mindset, noticing simple pleasures, we are better able to slow down, appreciate, and taste Life on sip at a time. Cheers!
What helps me cultivate an appreciation for small pleasures is to incorporate them into my daily activities. Some ideas would be to add the intention to your daily "to do" list, journal, or even set a timer on your phone as a reminder to do something you enjoy and appreciate, each day.
It is all about slowing down. Slowing your breathing first. Connecting with your body. What are you the sensations you are feeling? What do you feel on your skin? What do you see? What do you hear? It's a practise of mindfulness and giving yourself permission to be still for a moment and experience, just experience your senses.
No matter your preferences, interests, and values, there are countless small pleasures to be found in life. Listening to your favorite music, cooking or eating a delicious meal, reading a captivating book, playing with your pet, taking a nap, getting a massage, watching a funny video, smelling a fresh flower, having a meaningful conversation, learning something new, completing a task, helping someone, receiving a gift, making someone laugh, and feeling the sun on your skin are just some of the many small pleasures you can experience.
Small pleasures can be anything that lifts your spirits, and brings a bit of light into your day. Make a point to notice when you feel that small lift, and take note of it. It may be part of your daily routine, or something unexpected. Imagine there are little gifts hidden all through your day. How many will you find? It's an on-going treasure hunt - for all of us.
Hearing the laughter of children Watching a cat walk over the fence Feeling a soft blanket over my body Watering my plants Remembering a favourite vacation Drawing and colouring Drinking a cup of tea while calling my best friend Enjoying the first sip of my morning coffee Having a warm shower after a long day There are so many, and listing all of these already make me realise I have so many beautiful small moments in my life that I can cherish. Will you give it a try?
Here are 5 things that make me ridiculously happy, no outcome required: 1. the perfect dipping cookie 2. laying in a pile of laundry just out of the dryer 3. the smell of grass mixed with dirt on the soccer pitch in the fall 4. walking to work 5. butterflies and dragonflies
Sometimes, it can be difficult to notice and appreciate small pleasures due to various obstacles such as being too busy, stressed, critical, bored, or accustomed. To overcome these obstacles, you can try to schedule some time for yourself each day to relax and enjoy your small pleasures. Additionally, you can use your small pleasures as coping strategies to deal with stress and challenges. Furthermore, challenging negative thoughts and beliefs that undermine your appreciation can be beneficial. Additionally, seeking novelty and variety in your small pleasures can help avoid boredom and adaptation. Lastly, reminding yourself of the value and benefits of your small pleasures is also important.
In our society that tends toward extremes (e.g. thinking you must exercise at a high intensity with long duration to the point of exhaustion in order to "get fit;" etc.), it is challenging for many people to recognize and acknowledge the value of moments - the smile of a stranger on the street, noticing texture and color variation of leaves on a tree, a cloud formation in the shape of a heart - as contributing to well-being. But it is surprising what memorable moments can be found by being present and observant. Some moments are heart-warming, some funny, and some filled with awe at the beauty of nature. We must help people get beyond the persistent notion that it's unprofessional, or "fluff," to take time to experience small pleasures.
A friend of mine shared this tip and I have used it with my family as well as occasionally at work as a way to focus on and remember those little pleasures or moments of happiness. At the end of the day (or week or meeting) we go around the table and share 3 things/moments that sparked joy.
Increasing self-awareness can help us overcome the obstacles to appreciating small pleasures. The obstacles may differ for everyone. For those who push themselves over their limits to please others or in an attempt to increase their feeling of self-worth, may need to give themselves permission to experience small pleasures, first. Once they allow themselves to have the experience, they can move on to the "how to" process ('to do' list, journal, mindfulness activities, reminders on their calendar, etc).
Back to back meetings, quick biobreaks, constant apologies, forgetting lunch or eating at your desk... These are choices we make. What if we would make healthy choices? If we do so it will create a ripple effect into your environment. Like the plane analogy 'putting on your own mask first, than the person next to you'. Self-care is not selfish. How to overcome these obstacles? Become aware of them first, then reflect on what's underneath it, what's your stressor? And finally, what could you do to mitigate? Often, it can start with the small pleasures: mind your breathing, give yourself permission to take a break, feel that warmth when you drink a cup of tea. You have the power to define how your 5 minutes feel like!
To overcome the obstacles to be able to appreciate life again, we need to take notice of our time in the dark. Al living creatures need time to rest and regenerate. We can start looking at the light, when we reset ourselves properly: a good night sleep, saying no to parties, stay at home and loose the clutter, eating whole foods, these are all ways to help ourselves throught the dark moments in our lives to open us up for light, love and appreciation. Once you get through these moments you have no trouble at all to appreciate the small things in life and no problems at all to make space in your busy scedule.
If we properly understood the role of thought in our emotional experience, we would have imagination for the power we have at our disposal for improving our subjective experience of life. This is why: The thought-feeling process is an electro-chemical process. Thoughts are electrical frequencies that travel down the neurological axons to the axon terminals, that correspond with specific neuropeptides, hormones, or neurotransmitters – chemicals. When we think a certain thought (electrical frequency) it results in the corresponding chemicals being released into the synaptic space. These chemicals are then "felt" as emotion. When we THINK angry we FEEL angry. When we think GRATEFUL we feel it too. The same is true of pleasure
If we learn to slow down and start appreciate the little things in our lives, it will also make an effect to our worklives. Consider a company where everyone is motivated and continiously reminded about sharing gratitude with their teammates ?? Wouldn’t it be great? Weather in our daily lives or workplaces, being grateful of what we have, what we experience and sharing our thanks to people we are in touch will definetely nourish the flowers in our garden ??