Pleasure

How often do you allow yourself pleasure?  Yes, it's a very serious question.  Stop and take a moment to think about it.  How often do you actually allow yourself to truly enjoy your life?  Most enjoyment comes as a reward for personal accomplishment, physical achievement, etc.  How often is it that you just take a weekend, a day or even an afternoon for you.

As Americans, living in the United States, it's just not what we do.  How many Americans do you know who go on Holiday?  How many Americans do you know who take a sabbatical?  How many Americans take a two and a half hour lunch and a nap mid-day?  It just doesn't happen here in the States.  We push, push, push.  We are always going, always have somewhere else to be and something to do that we're running late for and in the midst of our own self-imposed chaos, we neglect ourselves.

So what does this "pleasure" look like in my life?  Pleasure may be what we didn't work for, or what we don't deserve, but it's part of what makes us whole.  I think I've only recently begun to understand what it looks like, and even then, it's not quite something I fully grasp.  A full day, mid-week, uninterrupted, with family, friends or those closest to you.  An extended vacation in excess of two weeks either here or abroad.  A walk in the gently falling snow.

I just can't help but realize that we all have a very warped view of pleasure.  We think we have to earn it, put ourselves in the grave for it or sacrifice our families or ourselves to get it.  We think it comes in the way of physical stuff, a new car, a shopping spree at the mall or an extravagant weekend in Vegas.

This afternoon sit back, pop the cork and like a cellared bottle of Deschutes Brewery's, Abyss, slowly drink it in.  Enjoy the richness of your life today.

Cheers