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Pleasure is a
necessary reciprocal. No one feels, who does not at the same time give it. To be
pleased, one must please. What pleases you in others, will in general please
them in you.
Lord Chesterfield
 Pleasure is the sensation of being fully alive, with our senses
alert and eager. Pleasure is our natural state. It happens when we allow
ourselves to feel and function with a spontaneous, unaffected indulgence. We
don't create it. We get out of its way and give it permission to radiate from
inside of us.
The benefits from pleasure.
 | Pleasure and play are important parts of a complete life.
 | They take us away from our daily concerns and connect us to a vigorous
world of refreshment and physical sensations. |
| They provide a safe environment in which to practice new
behaviors and
skills, including social skills. We concentrate more easily and learn more
quickly in an atmosphere of entertainment and fun. |
| They help to keep us healthy by lowering our blood pressure, reducing
stress and tension, and aiding relaxation. |
| Our mental health receives benefits. We see new perspectives and
opportunities to express ourselves and to allow the inner child to keep us
from taking life too seriously. |
| It motivates us. Everything we do is motivated by a desire for pleasure.
Whether we are pursuing love, a better job, a bigger home, or fudge ice
cream, what we want is the pleasure that we believe will be generated by
that item. When neither our goal nor our means are based on pleasure, we use
the fabricated force of willpower to move us. If we are relying on
willpower, we need to change our goal, or change our view of the goal from
one that is based on an intellectual concept to one that is rooted in
pleasure. A goal of saving money is revised to a sensuous aspiration of
having a vacation in the Bahamas. |
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Techniques for enhancing pleasure.
| Enjoy play for
its own sake. We are not playing if we have a serious intent. Real play is
neither the reward for past work, nor a recharge for future work. We get more
physical and psychological benefits from play if we take it on its own terms
and we relinquish control to the inner child who knows that play is not meant
to be productive. Left hemisphere goals diminish the benefits of these right
hemisphere activities. Ironically, we attain the goals of recharging and
refreshing only if we aren't thinking about them or trying to make them
happen. |
| Explore your concepts of pleasure. The mind is in a world of images and
concepts. The body's world is one of sensation. When the mind disregards the
body's reality, it selects goals based on images that falsely represent pleasure
to us such as a high paying job where the pressure is a burden and perhaps a
cause of illness. If we honor our need for pleasure and physical health, we
will choose a position that brings less, but sufficient money but more
enjoyment. Just as the body works to serve the mind's goals, the mind needs to
concede to the body's right to pleasure and to admit that some of its goals are
inconsequential without the pleasure they can bring. This mutual acknowledgment
permits a productive cooperation and an integration of mind and body. |
| Experience pleasure in the body. Our bodies want to feel pleasurable
sensations constantly touching, breathing deeply, dancing, looking with
curiosity, walking rhythmically, playing with objects, and so on. |
| Enjoy pleasure thoroughly. Pleasure comes in many forms, all of which are
meant to be enjoyed. Let our whims guide you to new sources of delight. |
| Feel the pleasure and the pain. Our capacity to feel includes the
feelings of both pleasure and pain. If we numb our perception of pain, we are
also numbing our perception of pleasure. To be fully alive, we must be sensitive
to all sensations, enduring pain when it occurs so that we can experience
pleasure during its time. |
| Find pleasure in everyday activities. We can achieve pleasure in
virtually any situation. Simple delights are everywhere: in a pretty color, or
a stranger's interesting face, or the texture of a chair's cushion. Whenever we
quiet our mental activity which is often nonproductive chattering, our senses
are quick to find a source of pleasure. We should feel that the world is a
playground, and life is a game. |
| We can enhance our pleasure. Pleasure is the result of a playful quality
in an endeavor. Our enjoyment is increased when we seek the following
reciprocal principles in our activities. When we are self expressive, we
experience pleasure and when we are experiencing pleasure, we tend to express
ourselves.
| Self expression. We are expressing our feelings, thoughts, and
personality. We are creative. |
| Attentiveness. |
| Unselfconsciousness. |
| Completeness. We enjoy the action for its own sake and for the pleasure
that is inherent in it. We have only secondary interest in goals, scores, and
competition. |
| Playfulness. We enjoy fun,
humor, and silliness. We are childlike. |
| Meaningfulness. Even a frivolous game assumes significance that the child
within us understands, but which cannot be explained to the intellect. Simple
tasks become unique rituals. |
| Passion. We are enthusiastic. |
| Expansion. We reach out to a new friend or a new adventure. We
experiment. We try new activities. |
| Aesthetics. We become more aware of beauty in its many forms. Even
if we are not creating art in the classical sense, we feel a quality of
elegance in whatever we are doing. |
| Movement. We move our bodies,
freely and joyfully. |
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We do not know a nation
until we know its pleasures of life, just as we do not know a man until we know
how he spends his leisure. It is when a man ceases to do the things he has to
do, and does the things he likes to do, that the character is revealed.
Lin Yutang
Next topic: Solitude |
