How to enjoy the little things in life: A guide to savoring simple pleasures everyday

When we think of experiencing pleasure in life, many people imagine the joy of attaining things from a checklist—marriage, a financial milestone, or a career achievement. But while you're striving for those goals, joy can feel far away. It can feel like you just can’t enjoy life yet.

I used to believe that pleasure only came from those mountaintop moments too. But life taught me otherwise—that 1) the joy from reaching those heights doesn't last for long (you’ll soon find another mountaintop to climb), and 2) waiting for those mountaintops to enjoy the little things in life is utterly exhausting. You either burn out from trying to earn your way to joy or feel defeated by not being “there” yet.

Instead, learning to enjoy the little things in life changed everything for me.

Because then, what you once saw as “far away” becomes possible right here, in this moment. Suddenly the joy is not a peak to reach, but something quietly alive beneath your feet. And even when you do reach the mountaintop—wealth, fame, success—it’s still the little things in life that your soul will crave. Without them, life becomes hollow and flavorless, like someone with a banquet of riches but no appetite to savor it.

Enjoying the little things in life—what many call simple pleasures—isn’t a consolation prize. It’s the actual prize that we all long for. And it's how we fill up the fountain of contentment within, again and again.

How to Enjoy Simple Pleasures in Life

Feel YOU, Through What You Do

To begin having simple pleasures in life, you can start with inspiration lists (I’ll share my favorites later). But it’s important to not treat them as checklists—simple pleasures examples are meant to awaken your senses, not become another to-do list.

Because the truth is, the pleasure you feel doesn’t come from the activity alone— rather the pleasure comes from YOU— i.e. your presence, your awareness of (love/the Divine/Universe).

Yes, some activities open that door more easily (like sipping tea would stir up the presence in you way more than scrolling on your phone does). But ultimately, your presence is what creates the enjoyment inside of you. The more you’re with yourself during what you do (and I mean even the not-so-good feelings about yourself), the more you can actually enjoy the little things in life too.

Spiritual activity:

 Use any activity to feel your presence—the loving awareness in you. Ask: How does it shift the indwelling silence inside me? What form of presence is my body longing for and then allow it to enter in your bones. The more you’re aware of the presence (of you— love/ the Divine/ Source), the more even the little things in life become vivid, sacred delights to inhale.

Peel the Layers of the Now

For most of us, the Now feels incomplete—like it’s lacking something. It’s like the “perfect” life is happening somewhere ahead in the future and we are not there yet. But the truth is, the future is just a mirage—an idea that only exists in our heads. It doesn’t actually exist out in our physical awareness. And when we are suffering, that’s because we abandon the present to live in our heads.

Yet when you begin to enjoy the little things in life, your attention roots back into the present—and because of it a quiet, profound happiness rises.

That’s because when you are in this Now moment, you aren’t caught up by fear-based thoughts and worries anymore. Rather, you can feel the existence of life pouring through you. You are savoring, not just merely living. And you can feel each thread of the Now moment, as if it were a necklace of pearls. To enjoy the little things in life means to witness in awe of each bead.

So it means you don’t just “listen to birds”—you peel the layers of the bird songs like slicing away a velvet cake. And that means you don’t just “watch the sunset”—you trace each color of light like it’s detailed by the finest brush. You let the Now moment hit the notes of every senses.

Spiritual activity:

 If you find yourself escaping into a future (to overanalyze, figure out, worry), ask what part of this Now moment are you missing on? And if this Now moment was like a blanket wrapping around you, what would be the different layers of it? And how does each layer allow you to experience the presence of love differently in your body? Notice how dropping into layers allow you to “soak” in the simple pleasures of life rather than merely rushing for things. 

Surrender to a ritual

Everything in life can lead to peace and pleasure when it’s done like a ritual. Some women give birth in a hospital bed under bright lights. Others light candles, breathe through contractions, and surrender to the nectar of life coursing through them. They all go through the same event. Yet have different experiences.

Nature, the ancient priestess of ritual demonstrates this the best. In nature, the moon waxes and wanes without rush. The leaves fall not from panic but with reverence. Flowers bloom and die without applause, and seeds split open in darkness without needing recognition… showing us that even the things as simple as splitting of a seed is part of life’s eternal ritual.

And enjoying the little things in life means treating even the mundane with care—like a moving prayer— a holy ritual. So even cooking becomes communion. Cleaning becomes meditation. Laundry becomes an act of love. You begin to see that the little things in life aren’t little at all—they’re part of the hidden ceremony of the Universe.

Spiritual activity

What part of life are you currently resisting? Can you turn this into a sacred offering? Notice how this resistance is creating a form of suffering and when you let go of it, there is more room for you to breathe… and more space to feel the quiet delight of life unfolding.

My Simple Pleasures: Inspiration for Your Own List

And when you can experience simple pleasures from things, all of life brim forth with perfection and wonder. It’s like you are looking at life from the lens of a child– filled with awe, wonder, and amazement at everything you encounter.

Below is also a list of what I am currently enjoying and are activities that help me feel the child-like spark again. Perhaps you can use that as an inspiration to make your own list that lets you immerse yourself in the pleasure of little things as well.

Spring/ Summer

• Making a DIY blush from rose petals

• Watering plants and watching the hose form rainbows

• Peeling strawberry skin to sow new plants

• Composting veggie scraps and feeding the soil

• Watching wild bunnies in the garden

• Foraging dandelions to make tea

• Making colorful butterfly pea flower tea

• Pressing flowers into handmade paper

• Walking barefoot on warm grass

• Drawing botanical illustrations

• Biking through a sunflower field at golden hour

Autumn/Winter

• Sipping hot chocolate while watching snow fall

• Harvesting vegetables from the backyard

• Lighting candles and reading books set in Victorian times

• Watching the leaves fall like golden confetti

• Visiting a library dressed like I’m in a Harry Potter scene

• Making warm chicken noodle soup

• Writing a blog with classical music in the background

• Playing Taylor Swift’s Red album

• Making handmade Christmas gifts

• Starting seeds for the next garden cycle

And the final note here, my love is that, to enjoy the little things in life is not about doing more. It’s about finding joy in less.  It’s about feeling the tenderness of each moment and basking in the beauty of that. It’s about finding gratitude and delight amidst the impermanence of existence.

And of course because the deepest pleasure comes from you—no external thing can give you what you haven’t yet experienced within already. So enjoying the little things in life, is simply about finding pleasure in your own Self even when you are doing nothing at all… and instead are simply being.