In my opinion, most people only provide sporadic pleasures, and not with the assiduity and quality that we could or should do.
I already know: generalizing is a mistake, and even more so when the final recipient of a document is unknown that it is not known where it will reach or who will be the person who reads it.
But I talk to people, I listen to them, I read personal stories, and from all this I get the idea that people - generalizing ... - are not very given to pleasures in a habitual way.
Some people still carry an unreasonable and secret feeling of guilt if they enjoy, as if it were a sin, as if they were disobeying an order that some heartless person has instilled in them: "NOOOOOO DISFRUUUUUUUUUTESSSSS ..."
Other people take life too seriously, charge themselves with unnecessary drama, and associate a social status or age with a time of seriousness, living in a timeless character that prevents them from freely enjoying themselves, laughing out loud, or playing jokes. .
I have always thought that if the Creator has endowed us with a series of senses or abilities that allow us to enjoy, enjoy, laugh, get excited, rejoice, delight, feel ... it will be precisely for us to do so.
And, on the other hand –generalizing… -, there are more moments that we live in tense restlessness, in an unnecessary sadness, in a harmful pre-occupation, in an almost dramatic seriousness…
I think that giving pleasures of any kind, as long as they are not harmful to oneself and are not harmful to others, is one of life's important tasks.
If we are aware that we want good and the best for others - especially for relatives or loved ones; if we observe them and rejoice with their satisfaction and happiness when we do something for them and give them some kind of pleasure; if we see the benefit that our attention brings to them ... Why don't we do the same with ourselves?
Why that neglect or that resignation?Why postpone it or why have to find a sufficient reason to give us a pleasure if that is something that does not need a specific reason?
If we are able to observe and suffer in our least good moments, if we accompany ourselves in all our misfortunes, if we are front row spectators of our concerns and sufferings, if we have to accompany ourselves in the hard circumstances, if we are aware of our tremendous effort to move forward on many occasions ... Why are we not fair and generous enough and reward ourselves with pleasures?
It would be convenient for people who are reflected in this writing to review their attitudes or thoughts until they find out what or what are the reasons they use or the unconscious motives that make them behave that way.
It would be very interesting, and beneficial, to find out why pleasures are not given in the usual way . (And when I say pleasures I don't mean expensive gifts: there are a thousand free things that can give joy)
They may be surprised to discover that low self-esteem has convinced them that they are not worthy of it; or maybe they find a stage in their past when a castrating and confused mother made them believe that one must be generous with others and austere with themselves; or it is possible that they think - unequivocally - that one can do without it without great sacrifice and that the others appreciate it more - and behind this what is really hidden is that what matters to them is not the pleasure they give them others but the pleasure that his ego feels to be considered so good and so generous; or that what they do with their “ generosity ” is not to satisfy the other for free, but to wait and receive in exchange for it the love that one is not capable of giving oneself.
Of course, behind the generosity of pleasures, hidden or twisted motivations are not always hidden. There are also those who are generous in an altruistic way.
But what interests us at the moment is to verify why one is not so eager to give oneself pleasures as to give them to others.
For believers, and for non-believers but be intelligent, a phrase: "Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF".
HOW - A - IT - YOURSELF. This means IN THE SAME QUANTITY as the neighbor. And, possibly, it also means the SAME MODE OR WAY.
BEWARE. This would possibly be the message of the Creator of each one of us.
And with that CARE, you are referring, possibly, to take care of yourself in all aspects (physical, mental, emotional, sentimental, pleasant ...)
Taking care of yourself, giving yourself pleasure, is, without a doubt, a way of approaching between One and Self; a way to strengthen ties, to relate better, to appreciate oneself, to reward oneself for hardships, recognition and gratitude and, finally, to use in an appropriate way those intrinsic capacities of the Human Being to enjoy, to feel pleasure, to enjoy ...
I leave you with your reflections ...
Francisco de Sales is the creator of the web www.buscandome.es oriented to the Development and Personal and Spiritual Growth of people interested in improving their lives.
Are you waiting for pleasures?
