I just read an article in a magazine called Breathe about the simple pleasure of being pleased. It got me thinking about myself. I take pride in being grouchy and grumpy, I don’t know what I would do with being pleased. This is not to say I don’t feel pleasure. I feel great pleasure when I chat with my grandson, when I teach classes, when I spend time with family and friends etc, etc. However I have to admit that I take pride in the fact that my overall state is grouchy and grumpy. Plus I feel more comfortable being grouchy than I do being pleased. I don’t know why this is. Maybe this is the way I show my love and care and at the same time protect myself from being vulnerable. Or maybe unwittingly I’m party to the notion that being pleased is too simple of a state, that being grouchy is more sophisticated and edgy.

That would be a shame. Because in my head I believe that the richness in life comes from appreciating and savoring the simple pleasures. The waking up in the morning and enjoying a delicious cup of coffee, listening to good music, having a good phone conversation etc, etc.

So what can I do differently to enjoy the simple pleasures in life and be easily pleased instead of being a grouch and grump? Well first I think it is important to demystify the notion that being easily pleased is something bad and that there’s cachet to being a grouch. Then I think it would be helpful to begin to believe that life doesn’t have to be hard in order to be enjoyable. Those last two ideas sound similar but they aren’t.

So starting today I’m going to try to enjoy the smallest pleasures of life.

What about you?