Simple Pleasures
"This morning, the world handed me a gift—wrapped in golden sunlight, the scent of coffee, and a crisp breeze that kissed my skin. It wasn’t grand, it wasn’t extraordinary. And yet, it was everything"
- Joanna Petrie-Rout
This week I have really been reminded about the magic in embracing simple pleasures. What if the secret to happiness isn’t in the big milestones, but in the moments, we barely notice?
Last Thursday was a ‘pinch me’ moment. I was a guest speaker for a local event and delivered a powerful session to over 80 women on the topic of crafting an Unshakeable Identity. I literally felt on top of the word as I walked out of the venue and headed to my car where was Rob was waiting for me.
The energy that I felt from being in that room with incredible women talking about a powerful topic was insane and my entire soul felt lifted. It was one of those rare, peak life moments that you never forget.
I arrived home to discover that Rob had prepared a beautiful lunch for us, and it was set out beautifully in our dining room. He had taken so much trouble to make it look gorgeous. Our crystal glasses were placed next to a bottle of champagne and the whole thing just looked so appealing. I noticed that I was just taking all the little details in and savouring every precious moment.
This theme followed into the weekend.
On Saturday, the weather was unseasonally warm, and I sat outside to enjoy my morning coffee. I just felt such a strong sense of gratitude for the warmth on my skin, the view of the sea and the smell and taste of my morning latte.
On Sunday, I decided to take advantage of the warm weather, and I stripped our bed so that I could get the bedding washed, on the line and drying in the fresh air. Again, I noticed this sensation of complete joy at the thought of being able to air dry our bedding. Isn’t it such a beautiful feeling when you go to bed and know that you are sleeping on fresh sheets that have been dried in the sunshine? As I went to sleep that night, I just had such a feeling of calm as I pulled up the duvet and was enveloped in the beautiful fresh smell of the bedding.
I started to notice a pattern as the weekend unfolded. My weekend was not made up of peak moments like I had experienced on Thursday. Instead, I was really tuning into all the micro moments of magic that surround me every day that often go unnoticed and unappreciated.
· The sun coming through the curtains in the early morning
· The way Rob kisses my neck
· The smell of the fresh cut grass
· The amazing colours of the sky as the sun sets
· The joy of speaking with my best friend
Our lives are busy and there are multiple demands on our time. It is so easy to lose the focus on all the beauty and blessings that surround us each and every day. So how we do we best capture those moments of magic and bliss? Here are some tips...
Develop the art of presence.
How many times in your day to you do things on auto pilot? Perhaps you have driven somewhere and can’t remember the route you took? Perhaps you have completed a task and can’t quite remember all the steps you took to achieve it? Or perhaps you have eaten your meal and not even realised you had taken your last mouthful.
Becoming more present allows you to notice all of those micro moments that easily get missed or forgotten. I am certain there are times where you have been in a conversation with one of your loved ones only to realise that your focus was somewhere else and that you have not truly listened to what they were saying.
Being fully present allows you the gift of being truly in that moment. It allows you to connect deeply with how you are feeling and what you are experiencing. It enables you to consciously make decisions and choices rather than being on auto pilot. It gives you the gift of savouring even the smallest of blessings and finding joy in a chaotic world.
Why not try it this weekend? Release yourself from the never-ending demands for your attention and intentionally choose to be exactly where you are. Savour those sacred moments and release yourself from the busyness and multi-tasking. Allow yourself to just be.
Being intentionally grateful
When you start to tune into the moments of magic in your life, you automatically become more appreciative and grateful. Gratitude is one of the highest emotional frequencies we can operate from. Gratitude is a magnetic energy. When we feel grateful, we create a ripple effect in our life, and we naturally experience more things to be grateful for. It is a powerful energy. When we can be grateful for the simplest of pleasures, we open up our energetic field to attract more into our lives.
This isn’t all ‘woo’. Neuroscience shows that we activate the reticular activating system in our brains. It means our brains starts to seek out more and more reasons for us to be grateful. Having an attitude and energy of gratitude literally rewires your brain to be more receptive to reasons to be grateful. Once you start seeing the beauty in the small things, you will automatically start seeing more and more reasons to be grateful. This is what I have been experiencing this week. This energy also enables us to deal with any challenges and setbacks in a much more productive way. The more grateful we become, the more resilient we become. Win/ win.
Tune into your senses.
Life is meant to be a sensory experience. When we use our full range of senses, our life experience automatically becomes richer. Little everyday actions become heightened moments of pure magic that lift your heart and soul. For example:
You can choose to drink your morning coffee. OR
You can choose to appreciate the aroma of the coffee and how it fills the room. You can enjoy how the coffee tastes when you drink it from your favourite mug. You can savour the taste of the richness of your coffee as you stand in the sunshine for a moment and experience the feeling of the warmth on your skin.
Isn’t’ that more powerful than simply grabbing your coffee and glugging it down before it gets cold?
When we actively engage all our senses, everyday micro moments suddenly become richer, more colourful experiences that elevate your life.
Intentionally move beyond ordinary
In the coaching I do, the topic of moving beyond ordinary often comes up. I truly believe that your life is meant to be extraordinary. I also know that extraordinary is a choice. You can choose to elevate every area of your life and create moments of magic.
Think about this…
How many things do you ‘keep for best?’
Why isn’t this moment right here and now ‘best’?
You are not guaranteed anything other than this moment right now so surely this very moment is BEST.
We do this all the time. We have clothes we keep for best. We have everyday plates and glasses and keep the better-quality stuff for best. We save so many things for special occasions. This magic moment right here is a special occasion.
I really started to embrace this philosophy in my life a couple of years ago and it’s been a gamechanger. I looked at everything through the lens of “how can I make this moment extraordinary?”. It is why Rob, and I had the most amazing afternoon tea on a fell looking over a lake. I decided I wanted that experience to be extraordinary. We didn’t just have a ‘picnic’. Instead, we had a full afternoon with champagne in real glasses and everything laid out on slates on the side of a mountain. It is one of our favourite memories. Embracing this philosophy has created so many beautiful moments in my life. The big moments and the small.
The Ripple Effect of Small Joys.
The ripple effect of the strategies I share above is huge. Not only do they elevate your life experience where you create joy from the ‘pinch me’ moments as well as the micro moments of magic, you set the standard for the people you care about in your life. When they see you enjoying even the simplest of moments, they start to see the pleasure in the small moments too.
This weekend why not try some of the tools above and see just how much magic is available to you in the quietest of moments and the simplest of pleasures.
I wish you a magical weekend.
