Simple pleasures are life’s treasures!

What treasures are you seeking? There has been a lot of treasure seeking lately with the popular medallion treasure hunt at the St. Paul Winter Carnival and at the February Festival in Chanhassen. People looking for the medallion treasure were out in all sorts of weather and they were determined to find it. Congratulations to Mike Thorud, who found the Chanhassen February Festival medallion. In fact, this is the third time he has won. He’s definitely a master at finding treasure.

We decided to go to the February Festival at Lake Ann. Because the weather had gotten warmer we thought there would be quite a few people but we were amazed at the big crowd. There were many people enjoying the simple pleasures of winter activities such as skating, dog sled rides, kick sled demos, fat tire bike demos, sleigh rides, sledding and other fun activities. We heard that 1000 holes had been made for ice fishing and people hoping to catch their “treasure” of a big fish to win the ice fishing contest. Even if they don’t win the contest, maybe it’s about the simple pleasure of anticipating catching the “big one” that makes ice fishing enjoyable.

All this treasure hunting got us wondering about what you and other people seek as treasures in life. While at the February Festival we met Rose Minar from Chanhassen and we asked her what treasures she is seeking in her life. Rose responded, “It’s a difficult question to answer because I have every treasure I could want, right here with me – my three children and I have a wonderful husband.” She continued, “I think one treasure I would love is to have some of my other family closer to me. I have a lot of family in Europe, especially my mother. I would adore for her to be closer. So hopefully, one day I can get them over here, too. That would be nice.”

We mentioned that it would be wonderful for her family to all be here and that even though family members are far away, they are always in our heart. Rose agreed, “Yes, they are, and with the modern technology today, I still get to see them every day, almost, so that’s nice. You don’t have to write letters that take months to get to each other. So, I’m very fortunate.”

We thanked Rose for sharing her ideas and we thought further about what are the real treasures in life. In his book, Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman, Ph.D., talks about how we sometimes long to get possessions and yet those possessions often lose their value to us over time. Sometimes it is even over a very short time and then we start needing more and more new “stuff” to feel that we have treasures. People who lose everything in some disaster, often want to know their loved ones are safe and they wish the pictures of loved ones were also saved. Those are clues as to what is important and treasured.

Seligman talks about how the Amish community 40 miles from Philadelphia has a much lower incidence of depression. Maybe happiness is living a simpler life or maybe it is about noticing what simple pleasures that are treasures we have in our life right now. Some of the treasures we value are family, friends and health. Not surprising, as many people also consider these to be treasures. One treasure we missed while we lived in Arizona was the smell of lilacs and now we enjoy lilacs each spring. Other simple pleasures that we treasure include seeing a child’s smile, watching the squirrels as they do gymnastics on the bird feeder, a good book or movie, hearing an old song that carries good memories, and feeling the sunshine. We realized how the simple pleasures of being with neighbors at a fun community event is a time we treasure. The February Festival was “fabulous” so if you missed it, we encourage you to put it on your calendar for next year.

We gave some examples of things we treasure, now what about you? What treasures are in your life?

Here are some ideas: Allow time to experience the many treasures you have in life already. Life can get so busy that we run through it without taking time to live it. When you allow yourself time to slow down, you may realize that life’s simple pleasures are your greatest treasures.

Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are Success Coaches and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2018 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.