Simple Pleasures

In our modern world of lightening communication, high definition video, and immediate gratification we have become accustomed to a host of stimuli which were unknown only a couple of decades ago. Now we tend to build up a resistance to entertainment, requiring ever-increasing does of it to satisfy us. Such pleasures increasingly fall prey to the law of diminishing returns. But when we step back and survey the true pleasures in life they still turn out to be the simple ones. While we may be temporarily wowed by our own creations, in the end most of us respond best to those things which we did not create. It’s been my good fortune to spend some extended time out of doors in recent weeks, which has enabled me to rediscover my own response to beauty and nature. During that time my life has also been very relational, reminding me how much I enjoy the company of others. I have, in short, reconnected with the simple pleasures in my life, the responsive joy which I believe is inherently a part of our identity. There’s just no telling what you may discover if you can just turn off the television, disconnect the computer, power down the cell phone, and simply get outdoors. Whether your backdrop is the ocean, the mountains, the desert, the plains, or even the tiny park at the end of the street, something special awaits you there. You don’t need a grand adventure with a bunch of equipment. You don’t need to take a week’s vacation. You just need to step outside without an agenda. Watch the sunset, smell some flowers, take a walk on the beach, or just observe a tree swaying in the breeze. And if you can share the experience with some like-minded person then all the better. The point is to break the monotony, turn off the electronics, and live a little differently … even if it’s only for a short time.

We often grow so accustomed to being entertained that we lose track of just being. So take a weekend, a day, an hour, a moment. Take some time to live, and look for some of the simple pleasures in life, I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

Simple Pleasures
When I survey my daily life
I find the simplest of things
Are what matter to me most of all
And the greatest pleasure bring
The morning sun upon my face
The song of birds nearby
The trees which dance upon the breeze
Every moment, a small surprise
The countless blessings on my path
Which greet me all the while
The quiet feeling deep within
That wells into a smile
Life is dotted with experience
And there are moments grand and fine
But the simple things that touch my heart
Bring a sense of the divine
                  By Frank Carpenter ©