Often I hear the sentence: I lack enjoyment of life. But, what is zest for life anyway? For me, it is tracing of my senses that are given to me in allday reality.
Indulgence as joie de vivre
My spirits told me once: "You humans expect an adventurous life always. Instead, it allday life that is important truly." Life is feeling. Indulgence that make my senses swing. That's easy, I guess. I can learn to enjoy. Therefor there are 7 simple rules.
- Indulgence needs time
- Indulgence is allowed
- Experience indulgence consciously
- Indulgence is "to each his own"
- Without experience no indulgence
- Indulgence is variety
- Less is more
- Indulgence exercise
Indulgence needs time
To take time means getting involved in the positive experience. Small time units a day are sufficient for increased zest of life.
Examples:
- A gaze in the morning sky
- Sniffing a blossom
- Feeling the warm coffee cup before taking the first sip
- Listening to the birds twitter
- Perceiving the striking of the tower clock
- A enjoyful breakfast in a convenient atmosphere
Indulgence is allowed
Don't search for reasons why indulgence should be "meaningful". Leave the thoughts of "walking for fitness, doing gymnastics for health, eating vegetables because they are healthy". Indulgence is everything I like, what makes fun or in which I am happy with.
Examples:
- Eating vegetables because they taste good
- Going for a walk because I like moving and I like the environment (forest, meadow, mountains)
- Singing because I like toning (don't matter how it sounds)
Experience indulgence consciously
Positive experience is increased when deepening into detail. To be totally with this one thing. Closing your eyes with the coffee cup in hand and perceiving taste and warmth (without looking at your mobile phone or television or reading a newspaper besides).
Indulgence is "to each his own"
Indulgence is tailored to me personally, independent of fashion or what other people do. This specially is valid for music, food and leisure activities. Detecting what benefits me specially brings zest of life to me.
Without experience no indulgence
The better I know me "pleasurable thing", the more intense is the experience. For example, deeper knowledge about the coffee type, the fruit sort, the wine, if the ingredients of my meal are biological and where they come from, what kind of forest is it in which I move and which animals live there, who the composer of the music is or the author of the novel I am just reading, whether has the story historical roots or is based on the life experience of a person.
Indulgence is variety
Variety preserve the desire for indulgence. Today the joy of the smell of freshly milled coffee, tomorrow the listening to the quietly gnash of dry leaves or snow under my feet, the day after tomorrow the pleasure of the warm jet of water of the shower on my skin.
Less is more
Everything done too often or exaggerated becomes dull and flat. Preserve the longing and hence relish your pleasures moderately and alternately. Anyone who tries to indulge the same music or the same meal every day, and that in excess too, quickly becomes nauseous.
Indulgence exercise
Use your body senses consciously and assign an assiciation to each sense.
Do with pleasure:
- sniff / smell
- grope
- be touched (also from the elements water, air/wind, fire/warmth, earth)
- taste good (taste, consistency)
- perception of colors and shapes without naming them (wordless considering)
- watch movements (e.g. looking on someonce dancing)
- listen (perceive sounds, enjoyable and consciously listening to music)
Positive associations therefor may be: What comes to my mind by this sound, this music, this color, this touch? What do I associate with it? About what place do I think, about what occurence, at what season did I come in contact with it? Do I think of a fairy tale or a beloved person?