Today, I am grateful for pleasure. Every once in a while, I like to buy a whole pineapple and slice it up. Whenever the mood strikes me, I take a bite of pineapple. It sends my taste-buds into overload. There is something about how you enjoy the sweetness of fruit that almost feels like nirvana. It’s not hard to find that type of pleasure in your life. It only requires for you to be in the moment.

We are too often caught up in trying to figure out the past or trying to figure out the future. The present is this day. If you can get out of your head, you may be in a very pleasurable moment. I love nothing more than to laugh, because I find that laughing forces me into the present moment. When you are laughing, you are forced to lose control and get out of your head.Vacations are also have a way of forcing you to focus on the moment. I can remember being in the Bahamas years ago. We were driven around the island to a spot where we could see the moon. I remember that I stood on the shore. I could hear the crest of the water as it kissed the beach. I stared at this brilliant moon that seemed to hang over the water. It was dark, but the moon reflected into the water. It was as if it was a live painting that was created just for me. I remember thinking that this was the beauty of the world that I missed as I was moving about life. It was only because I gave myself permission that I realized how beautiful it was.

“An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young”– Oscar Wilde

Music is also a source of great pleasure. Music can express your feelings, transform you or take you away from where you are in the moment. I love being surrounded by beautiful melodies and filled up by powerful words. Musical expression has long be apart of everyone’s culture. It is what binds us as people and reminds us that we are not alone. I love to get lost in a song and sing at the top of my lungs (even to the chagrin of my neighbors). When I was younger, I used to sit in the park. I could sit in the park for hours watching people go by. I would listen to the birds and marvel at the flowers. I even listened to the constant lull of traffic ebbing and flowing. When you make yourself still, everything sounds like a concert and it reminds you that everything is in harmony. Summer is an especially great time to pay attention to the dance that daily life does or even to sit and people watch.

In this world, there are so many things to enjoy and do. We convince ourselves that it all cost money and some of it does, but much more of it doesn’t. If you start trying to find the pleasure and the beauty in the world, you will realize that it’s all over and around you. There is magic in something as simple as a child’s laughter. There might have been a time that you lived for a smile or a kiss. The simpler times are often lost to bigger expectations. It doesn’t make them bad, but you don’t have to give up one for the other. You can still enjoy the simple pleasures when you want. But, don’t confuse the search for pleasure with pursuit. You can find pleasure within your life as it is today. The pursuit of pleasure is the journey of someone who doesn’t see what they have before them.