Delighting in Life

Delighting in Life

Sometimes it’s difficult to give ourselves permission to take delight in life.

Taking delight ... I love the concept.

Why?

Because it implies that we can consciously choose and grab hold of experiences of delight. Reach out, draw them in, experience them to the fullest, and savor them with joy.

The key is taking them ...

So often in the busyness of our days, moments of potential delight can whiz right by us (or perhaps it is we who bypass them). We’re hurrying, unfocused, so the bird song, the aroma of lilacs in the air, the morning dew glistening on the grass go unnoticed.

Our “taking” in this sense is slowing down enough to notice, to breathe and absorb the natural delight that is ever around us.

Taking delight can also occur when we intentionally set it up and give ourselves over to the experience.

My daughter and I engaged in a full day of delighting in life this past weekend. I went to visit her at her college town. We set the intention to enjoy every moment together and sniff out delight wherever we could find it.

Eating, shopping, walking, more eating. There seemed to be a lot eating! Though we are both pretty health conscious so we did try to choose wisely: Organic Mexican one night, tofu rice bowl for lunch, Whole Foods salad for dinner. (Oops! Here she is munching on a burger...)

And then there were the cupcakes. As we laid out our plans for the day she informed me that there was a cupcake store we should visit. An obvious source of delight, yes?

Our experience there was decadent, delicious, delectable—plenty of "D" words came to mind as we enjoyed our cupcakes. Really savored them. 

Without guilt or negative self-talk or after-consumption angst.

I loved every bite of that cupcake. She did too.

And because we did so without all of the typical feminine thoughts of “I shouldn’t” or “I shouldn’t have,” our experience was memorable. And fun. Oh so much fun!

When was the last time you took absolute delight in life and savored every morsel?

If it’s been awhile, or nothing comes to recent memory, open up your Yellow Pages (or do a Google search) to see if there’s a cupcake store near you.

You have our permission to enjoy every bite. 

 "New day -

Ten thousand reasons to rejoice."

~Ingrid Goff-Maidoff

Until I decide I won't, I am penning, these blog posts in support of my ongoing sacred journey course,“Creating a Life of Contentment,"  which began Sept. 15. For one entire year, we'll be traveling together as intimate companions: to relax, let go and rest into Love; to discover the bliss of our own life.