Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Evelyn Rennich of Smallish Blog.
How much delight do you experience in life? Do you feel real, soul-quivering delight on a daily basis? If the answer is “no,” it is possible that your delight is buried under stress and stuff.
After a busy time of year, we are tired of comparing Instagram lives, tired of working our tails off only to see someone do the job better, tired of the more-more-more rat race. The rat race is really a gerbil-wheel trap of consumption (a joyless void). Chasing after things or a bigger house or a promotion often leaves us feeling tired, angry, sad, lonely, and ultimately delight-less.
On the other hand, living intentionally—minimally, simply, slowly—can increase white space in your life. This white space provides opportunity for delight to bloom.
Consider delight for a moment. It means “to please greatly, to take great pleasure in, to revel, to captivate.” Don’t we all want to be able to say we take great pleasure in life? That we are capable of reveling in even the smallest of blessings?
Regardless of your external circumstance, it is possible to cultivate appreciating pleasure in your everyday life.
Here are four ways you can take specific action to invite delight:
1. More Slow.
It’s difficult to take great pleasure in anything when you’re constantly on the move or even mentally switching gears. Rushing from one thing to another might feel important but it only serves to increase stress. Find ways to slow down.
Create “stops” throughout the day, even if they are as small as drinking a cup of water and staring out a window for three minutes. Allow yourself moments to merely breathe. Say a prayer. Center. Enjoy sunlight on your face. Slow. Build in beautiful white space which allows the mind to fully process. Everyday delight can be a habit as you slow down and appreciate life on a detail level.
2. More Simple.
“Simple” here means to have your life priorities in line. Life can be wildly complex and yet remain glaringly simple if your priorities are set and you stick to them. Set your priorities for your own convictions, and you might be amazed at how straightforward decisions become. Life priorities come in all shapes and sizes: Serve God. Love people. Respect boundaries. Stay healthy. Commit to exercise. Parent with grace. Enjoy work.
Whatever is most important to making your soul come alive. Once you create a net of priorities it becomes a sieve through which to filter opportunities. Screen incoming commitments or opportunities through your priority net and say “no” to things which don’t clearly support goals which are close to your heart. As you gain momentum in investing in your life priorities, room for delight will emerge.
3. More Gratitude.
Giving thanks isn’t just for November. Recent studies unequivocally link happiness with gratitude.
It turns out that counting your blessings truly changes your outlook. I’ve seen the power of thankfulness in my own life. When I am intentional about giving thanks for every good thing, however seemingly inconsequential, my joy flourishes and I see goodness all around me. This habit is most helpful on the hard days, when joy seems difficult to uncover. Being grateful on purpose is one of the most powerful ways to see delight surface in life.
4. Less Stuff.
Ability to delight often gets buried in excess stuff. When we open a closet full of things, instead of feeing thankful that we have what we need, we feel stressed because we see a need to organize. How tragic! Owning fewer material items actually makes it easier to be thankful for what we have. When we have less stuff, we somehow appreciate the stuff we do have more.
Owning less stuff causes us to be intentional about what we bring into our homes. Consequently, we have more room in our homes. It seems backwards but it’s true: less stuff definitely equals the ability for more delight in life.
We all crave more delight in our lives. Breathtaking pleasure in the ordinary is possible, but it is easily abandoned as our lives speed up, priorities get out of whack and piles of stuff accumulate. Invite more delight this year. Intentionally slow down. Evaluate your priorities and make sure your commitments reflect your goals. Be thankful on purpose. Get rid of a whole lot of stuff and discover how easy it is to be grateful for less.
After taking a few steps toward less, you’ll find you might be smiling.
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Evelyn Rennich writes about her attempts to live modestly, frugally, and green at Smallish Blog. You can also find her on Facebook.
I loved this! I’m in a season of life where the reminder to go more slow hit home. It is so easy to forget this when life gets a little crazy. But you are so right, just 3 minutes looking out a window can do wonders to decrease stress. Thanks for the great reminder, the day I needed it!!
Thank you for this article that reminds us what is truly important ! Gratitude needs to be a habit in our day to day life.
Evelyn! What a lovely article! Slowing down and being grateful are things I need to cultivate. Thank you!
Hi Rebecca! Thanks :)
I definitely relate to feeling “tired, angry, sad, lonely and ultimately delight-less.” My word for this year is “delight” and I felt both conviction and inspiration from this post. Thank you for this!
Hi Faith, Ohhhhh I think it’s going to be a good year for you. :) Thanks for commenting!
Thank you for the word delight, its so refreshing, my word for this year is embrace, as soon as i say it i feel encouraged, which is hard for me having had years of hurt, sorrow and despair, keeping thankful was my saving grace too, i love the white space when you can just BE and not Do and i am sitting here just for 10 minutes watching the birds and blue sky, its funny rainbows are my favourite thing and how easy you can miss them because they soon disappear, decluttering is a journey of up,s and down,s but oooh so worth it,
last year my word was enough, and when i was tempted to buy i would simply say i have enough, i didn,t feel deprived because i didn,t go without as i already had enough, we don,t need to buy excessive amounts of things either,
love Jacqueline
What a lovely post :) I love what you said here: “Owning less stuff causes us to be intentional about what we bring into our homes”. This is so true and can be hard at times, especially with small children. Items just seem to multiply with young kids :)
Thank you, Mackenzie. Blessings to you this weekend!
Love this! When I read the definition of delight— it reminded me that I read in the bible that God delights in us. How beautiful :)
I am de-cluttering and cleaning my house from top to bottom and it feels great. One room at a time.
Hi Judy! That is exactly the place that the delight started swelling in me– straight from God’s presence. :) But I do believe that lightening our life can make room for more delight to grow. Thank you so much for sharing! … and way to go on the decluttering your house!
White space.
It is a concept so lost on our culture. We need to design our lives around this concept, in our mental and physical spaces.
Thank you for sharing your words. They are important to share.
Nice article. Simplifying is the way to go. My wife and I just did a short social media break. Saying no to Facebook and Twitter left more space and room in our days for a bit more delight. Whether it’s physical stuff, mental stuff, or virtual, getting rid of some of it, had a definite positive effect. My experience is here on my site. http://1gonline.com/blog/2017/01/12/7-day-social-media-break-starting-the-new-year-less-distracted/
Thanks for sharing, Darren!
I’m glad you brought up the simple vs complex. Like you mentioned, life is made up of systems. Systems are complex, but they are not complicated. Life in general, is simple (yet complex), but we make it complicated.
Well done!
Thanks for sharing the point between complex and complicated! We tend to think of them as the same thing, but you’re right– complex can be simple.
Loved the suggestion to drink a glass of water and stare out the window. I did that this afternoon, and instantly felt more relaxed.
Hi Gracie, drinking water and staring out the window is one of my favorite things. So glad you got a moment of relaxation! :)
So love this❤
So grateful that i took the time to read this today. Thank you for sharing this. I’m struggling with something I may need to say “no” to right now, in helping with a large event. (I used to do these). Not sure i want to put myself under the time and challenge of it all. This article was just what I needed today! Blessings to you!
Thanks Sharon! Glad to hear your heart is blessed by pondering delight. :)
Such a small word with rich experinces. You inspired my day with delight Evelyn
Hi Wael, “delight” sure is a packed word isn’t it? Glad to hear you are inspired. :)
Great to see you published here Evelyn. The real delights in life are the small things, they so often go unnoticed and unappreciated in the rush for more. We are in the mist of a month long summer holiday and we are staying home. Rather than seeking some big adventure, we are simply enjoying each other’s company and soaking up the abundance that surrounds us, but we don’t always prioritise.
Hi Amy! Thanks. :) A stay-cation is lovely, and it sounds like you’re doing it right by “soaking up the abundance that surrounds us”. That sure sounds delightful! :D
The less I have the more smilier I become.
“the more smilier I become” :) Yes! Same!
I have been pondering this week on the question- How much is enough; to get done in a day, hours to work in a week, money to have, ect…? This is a good article with simple but profound and practical suggestions. Thanks!
That’s such a great question to focus on. When I started to focus on enough, rather than more, I discovered that I don’t need to win the lottery, in effect I’ve already won.
It is true, we could all use a little more white space in our lives – the time and place to reflect on what is really important. When we learn to accept the little that we have, we can be grateful how “just enough” brings so much happiness. Simple is delightful, thank you for the lovely reminder!
AMEN! Delightful inspiration.
I am very big on decluttering, happiness, gratitude, I’ve slowed down & now enjoy life more. Have more adventure & life is wonderful. Meditate & bellydance x