Figuring out how to enjoy the little things in life can feel increasingly difficult in a world that often feels like a whirlwind of constant motion and ever-increasing demands. The pursuit of big goals, extravagant experiences, and grand achievements can sometimes blind us to the true treasures that lie in the seemingly mundane. In this blog, we'll explore the art of savoring life's little pleasures, cultivating gratitude, and discovering the profound happiness that can be found in the everyday. Join me as we delve into the magic of learning how to enjoy the little things in life. Let's dive in! How To Enjoy The Little Things in Life 1. Focus On Being Grateful Every life has something to be grateful for. If we cannot find things to be thankful for, then the reason lies within us. Our inability to find joy or happiness in our lives doesn't suggest in the slightest that joy and happiness are not there. Rather, it suggests we need to look more carefully. It indicates that either we're not taking the time or that our perspective is too narrow and limited. There are thousands of enjoyable experiences available to us every day, and how many times have we actually given gratitude or thanks for these experiences? 2. Appreciate Everyday Experiences Appreciating everyday experiences is not about how good it feels to accomplish a major goal such as earning a million dollars, having your book make the best-seller list, or finishing a major project you've been working on for several months. While goals can bring happiness, discovering joy and happiness in our lives comes from appreciating very simple experiences, not from what you can purchase or possess. How many enjoyable experiences do we have in life? There are too many to even count. Consider everyday moments such as sunsets, walks in nature, drives in the country, romances, adventures, friendships, good meals, celebrations, stimulating conversations, and great songs. These experiences and many more like them are free. They don't cost anything, yet if we stop to savor them, we can truly enjoy the little things in our lives. 3. Embrace Simplicity There is an old Shaker hymn that begins, "'Tis a gift to be simple, 'Tis a gift to be free." Simplicity does bring freedom. But simplicity doesn't necessarily mean doing without or cutting back. True simplicity is internal, not external. It's an awareness that allows the ordinary to become extraordinary. Simplicity means needing less to be content. It means letting simple everyday experiences please us and bring us joy. We have many of these moments each day. These events may take a fraction of a second, but they are very real experiences of joy and wonder. They happen all the time, but usually, we ignore them, considering them mundane or purely coincidental. For example, it could be a song you hear on the radio, a piece of writing that inspires you, the sight of two elderly people holding hands, a bird hopping across your backyard, or [...]

Let’s be clear that there is no one formula, cut in stone, that guarantees a happy and successful life to each individual. Each person lives their life according to what they feel is important, and this is as it should be. However, in this post, I will share with you the ten practices that have allowed to get to a place today where I can safely say that I’ve had a very happy and successful life by all standard measurements—and most importantly by my own. They are not ‘my practices’ in the sense that I have discovered something new, but rather they are the practices that have evolved in my life as I have endeavored to lead a fun, interesting and successful life. This is your intimate look at the thought process of a man now in his seventies who has loved life and lived it fully. If through this process you find ideas to adopt in your own life and they resonate as true and valuable, then so much the better. Table of Contents 1. Have a multidimensional, holistic view of your life 2. Be creative with your life 3. Do what you love 4. Be thankful each day for something 5. Awaken your heart 6. Embrace change 7. Have fun each day 8. Have a daily self-help practice 9. Have a spiritual belief 10. Love the process of self-exploration and self-mastery 1. Have a multidimensional, holistic view of your life In my early twenties, a close friend of mine and I invented a card game called the ‘Cosmic Life Game.’ I won’t go into the details of the game; suffice it to say that the process of playing the game forced the player to make decisions about what was important in their life. We played it with many friends and it was always quite revealing. Over a multi-year period we probably played it more than a hundred times. Through that process, five main themes revealed themselves as “important’ in life.  Financial / career Fun / adventure Spiritual Health Relationships: Family, friends, spouse, children The key in life is to not let any one theme totally dominate the others. Be vigilant in finding balance, and respect the need to nourish all five. I am not suggesting that each should get equal time. Earning a living and raising a family obviously does not allow for this, but we should still seek balance. Is there any one of the five that is being totally ignored? Is there any one that totally dominates? If all five are important, what does ignoring one or more do to you as an individual? Too often we fall into routines and patterns where we find ourselves in unhealthy lifestyles without balance. It’s a good idea to take the time, several times a year, to look closely at our life choices. What do we need to do more of, less of? Always look for ways to nourish the parts of you that are being neglected. A [...]