When it comes to happiness
most of us are concerned with the "big stuff".
Stuff like financial security,
stuff like feeling a sense of purpose,
job satisfaction,
relationship satisfaction,
having a self-concept that's good...
The thing is that on the way to these big things, which matter,
we forget to engage in those small simple pleasures
that are available to us in every day.
That's the simple pleasures
that really make our life experience rich
that are the "stuff" of joy in life.
Please pause and read before you watch this video:
The Power of Simple Pleasures
When we become so fixated on these big things of happiness,
we're more concerned with what we don't have
than what we do have.
We're more concerned with what isn't,
than with what is.
Because of this,
we often don't even recognize
when these moments of simple joy are happening,
and we don't really resource them.
We don't really take them in.
Because of this, we deprive ourselves of joy in our everyday life.
For this reason a powerful practice is to recognize,
embrace, seek out and fully take in the simple pleasures
that exist in the world for you on a daily basis.
So are you ready for your assignment this week?
your assignment this week is to make
as long of a list as possible
of your simple pleasures for you specifically.
Then, each day at least one time a day
you're going to fully engage
in a simple pleasure.
And when you're doing so,
you're gonna let yourself really fully experience it.
That means be totally present with it,
with your mind,
with your emotions,
with your body,
with your spirit...
you're gonna totally be there.
Immersing yourself in the experience of that thing
with all of your senses.
Essentially you're gonna let it "take you over" in a good way.
As if there's no filters between you
and the full immersive experience of that thing.
So that you can understand this, I'm gonna give you an example;
But this time I'm gonna use myself as an example.
What I have here is some of my list of simple pleasures.
Keep in mind that if I gave you my entire list,
we would be here all day.
Sitting at the summit of a mountain peak
when it is completely covered in snow.
Especially when the entire mountain range is just all white.
How about this one:
Watching horses graze
and taking in the utter contentment that they feel.
Another one of my favorite things
is to lay backwards on them while they graze
so I can feel them underneath me,
and at the same time I'm watching the clouds above me.
Trying a new tea at a tea shop.
Walking very slowly through a grocery store
looking at everything they have for sale.
Yes! I'm one of those people that loves grocery stores.
Meeting up with someone for a catch-up
and for some connection,
cooking something for the people that I love,
and then announcing that it's time to try it
and watching them rush in the room and eat it for the first time,
the feeling of the bright warm stage lights against my face.
See, this is one of those things
that may not be accessible for most people,
but it is a simple pleasure that's accessible to me,
so, I love that one.
Gifts and giving them,
big downy flake snowstorms when there's no wind.
Writing poetry.
hot baths...
especially when there is a pink bath bomb to put in
so that makes all of the water pink.
This is a kinky one for me:
I like watching people's hands and face
specifically in movie theater lighting.
The feeling of velvet and satin,
decluttering,
sitting in a shaft of sunlight when it is shining through a window,
picking huckleberries,
sitting in a hot tub in the winter time.
Wahhh...
Going for an intuition walk,
for those of you that don't know what that is,
it's when you don't really have any time period
or any specific landmark as a goal in mind,
you literally walk out the door
and you just intuitively decide to go right or left
and then at each juncture,
same thing, you use your intuition to just let the universe
essentially take you where you're going.
The way my dogs greet me when I come home,
going for a run first thing in the morning
with music playing in my headphones,
finding the perfect song to fit my mood,
reading a book or journaling in hay bales in a barn,
watching The Great British Bake Off,
admittedly my favorite TV show.
Standing on the beach and letting the waves wash up over my feet.
I especially love it when the waves wash out
and you feel yourself like, sinking into the sand.
Pulling the fluff out of cattails.
And for those of you that are like:
"`What? Teal's a vegan and an animal rights activist"
Um... it's a plant, okay?
A cattail is like this marsh plant that is so awesome.
It looks kind of like a hot dog on the end of a stick, but...
in the fall time the fluff starts to fall out
and it is so satisfying to pull that out.
Mindful eating.
I love that one.
Sleeping with the windows open but with a warm comforter,
so it's super cold outside,
but a warm cocoon inside when I sleep.
Funny memes,
swimming in swimming pools with goggles
like I'm a five-year-old.
Going to places in the city where birds hop around on my feet,
walking through artisan markets.
I love markets.
Sticking my fingers in uncooked rice,
being topless,
waking up before everybody else does,
building igloos,
I think I'm sensing a snow theme for me and my happiness,
making treasure hunts for children,
rearranging rooms,
attending hockey games.
I have a whole sub personality for hockey y'all.
Eating pomegranates.
Pomegranate is my favorite fruit by the way.
Skipping rocks,
which I'm very good at.
Eating snow out of a cup.
There it is again...
Watching children in toy stores and soaking in their excitement.
And popping tar bubbles in old roads.
What you can do when you're doing this exercise
is that you can pick something off of this list you've written
or if you just happen to end up in a situation
over the course of the week, on any given day,
where you are suddenly
in the midst of a joyful moment,
you just fully experience it.
So, let's say that off of this list
I'm going to pick something like:
Trying a new tea at a tea shop.
I don't care if I have had tea a thousand times in my life,
which I have, probably more...
I'm going to drink that tea
and have the experience of that tea
as if it is the first time I am trying it on earth.
I am going to notice everything about the experience.
Every little detail of the sights,
of the sensations... everything.
The feeling of the cup against my hands,
the fragrance of the tea,
the sound of a spoon against ceramic,
or the liquid pouring...
the look of the steam rising from the cup,
the heat of the liquid in my mouth,
the way the flavor plays on my tongue,
the way it makes me feel emotionally
to feel and hear and smell and taste all these things.
I'm going to use the experience itself
to pull me into the present moment
and deeper into the full immersive experience of that tea
as if I came to earth specifically to try this tea.
When you're doing this list,
make sure that you make it as big as you possibly can.
Remember that these simple pleasures come in all different shapes and sizes.
And they're going to be different for different people.
Why? because different "simple pleasures"
are available to different people based on where they are
and the unique lives that they specifically lead.
And remember...
one of the greatest joys in life
is to experience these simple moments with other people.
Most especially, when we get to introduce
one of our simple pleasures to somebody else
who has never tried it before.
When it comes to the big things in life,
the big things we associate with happiness
most people feel as if they're pretty out of reach.
Meaning, they're just difficult to attain.
And because of this a lot of people feel powerless to Joy in their life.
The thing is, in contrast,
these simple pleasures in life are not out of reach.
In fact, they're available to us in any moment.
And this means we're not powerless to them.
In any moment, on any given day
we can bring them about
and therefore have control over our experiencing of joy
to the degree that we allow ourselves to recognize them
and actually experience them.
Meaning, resource or take them in.
This is a big deal when you finally accept and realize
that a happy life is nothing more
than a string of these joyful moments
and that it is these simple moments of joy
that honestly build the very best memories.
So here's your final message.
A person who is really fully able to live,
is somebody who is able to fully immerse themselves
in these moments of simple joy
that exist in the present
and that can really soak them in
with all of their senses.
Have a good week.
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I wanna thank you personally
for the bravery that you have to step into awareness.
I'll see you in the next video.
Subtitles by volunteer: Tanya Duarte If you would like to contribute to the subtitles Join the volunteer subtitle group on Facebook ASK TEAL TRADUCTION/TRANSLATION