The Best Things In Life Are Free

Five small, simple pleasures that make you happier and more present.

Watch the present moment slip away, and you’ll never get it back.

You probably don’t even realise you’re on auto-pilot right now.

It’s a nightmare that comes to life.

In the blink of an eye, you’re like Adam Sandler from the movie Click — you sleepwalk through the big moments, missing out on the juicy experiences that give meaning to life.

The only way to close this gap?

More presence of mind.

Here are five small, simple pleasures that help do the trick.

1. Inside Jokes With Friends

It’s a hidden treasure.

Cackling like a bunch of wild hyenas over stuff that only you and your friends understand is the greatest natural high.

In these moments, it’s like you are the only people on the planet.

Time stands still.

There’s no tomorrow or yesterday, only the essence of friendship compressed into a small slice of time.

It’s ironic, too — inside jokes are made in an instant, but they last a lifetime.

While life is no laughing matter, inside jokes remind us not to take it so seriously.

The silly things in life keep us grounded — they’re truly priceless.

2. The Smell Of Morning Dew

We live in sad times.

The average person spends nearly 50% of waking life lost in thought.

The problem is when we’re constantly in our head, obsessing over ticking off the next box on our checklist, we watch the outside world speed past.

I always think: Where’d the present moment go?

The smell of morning dew is a last-minute game changer. It evokes my childhood memory of playing early-morning golf with my brother in the Sweden countryside.

And within seconds.

POOF!

I’m back to reality, fully grounded in the present.

It’s like a cascading effect: the more you harness one sense, the more you simultaneously engage the others.

No wonder Leonardo da Vinci said:

“The five senses are the ministers of the soul.”

Your senses keep you rooted in reality.

Whether it’s the smell of morning dew or a crackling campfire, our sense of smell offers a real taste of what it feels like and means to be human.

3. Stillness While The City Sleeps

I envy early birds.

Long before the city rumbles to life, before swarms of honking cars clog the streets, and the sidewalks buzz with people — a stillness blankets the city.

I rarely get up before dawn, but when I do, there’s a quiet magic in the air.

Simply knowing the whole city is fast asleep makes me feel like I have a head start on life.

Fully absorbed into the present moment, the less we think about the future or mistakes we’ve made.

The unknown becomes a great domain to navigate.

Possibility doesn’t exist anywhere but for the present moment.

“There’s no greatness in the future. Or clarity. Or insight. Or happiness. Or peace. There is only this moment.” — Ryan Holiday

4. Nature Walks

My friend from uni, Kyle, smokes weed like a chimney.

He’s also a good ol’ Canadian boy with a heart of gold — he loves the outdoors.

In our first year of uni, after a long night of drinking, Kyle springs to his feet.

“LET’S GO FOR A NATURE WALK!”

Most of our friend group didn’t understand the random hype. But his enthusiasm was infectious — so a few of us gave it a go.

Armed with a few joints, we marched into the forest behind the university campus.

I was stunned — maybe it was the alcohol and weed talking, but it was like we had entered a new world.

A zigzag of countless trails swerving between the dark silhouette of trees, narrow bridges atop small icy rivers, the smell of pine cones in the cold air, and a pitch-black starless sky cutting through the thickness of foliage overhead.

This is an unforgettable memory, one I wish I had more of.

When we’re in nature, we’re not only more present — we’re less stressed.

Says psychologist Jennifer Steller:

“Experiencing awe [in nature] makes us more connected to the universe…which helps to switch off our stress-response.”

5. Cooking One’s Secret Sauce

It’s a taste of heaven.

We’ve all got that one thing that makes us feel alive and uniquely us.

It’s what Robert Green, author of “Mastery,” calls the thing that reaches “the depth of your being.”

For me, that’s tennis — when I’m in my element, it feels like electricity is coursing through every cell of my body. My inner critic switches off as the outside world melts away.

All that’s left is the present moment — one might even say it’s divine.

When Hugh Jackman is performing on a movie set or theatre stage, he says he feels “God’s pleasure.”

It might sound like spiritual mumbo jumbo, but does it matter?

Whatever it is for you, it’s the one feeling that nobody can take away from you.

If you’ve got a vision or dream calling your name, something that makes you feel like flying your freak flag to the moon, stick with it.

The secret ingredient of what makes you you is keeping you locked in the present.

Final Thoughts

The most valuable currency in life is experience.

You can’t put a price tag on these five simple pleasures:

• Inside jokes with friends
• The smell of morning dew
• Stillness while the city sleeps
• Nature walks
• Cooking one’s secret sauce

Isn’t the present all we will ever have?

If you want to live in the moment, the only values you need to live by are: simplicity and beauty.

Don’t take this moment for granted, hold on tight — it won’t last forever.