Life is full of pleasures, great and small. And finding the joys in life and spreading them around is what life is all about! You can find it in some surprising and decidedly unexpected places, too.
The recent r/AskReddit thread, “What was the greatest pleasure you ever felt?” came through with some great, and wonderfully wholesome answers.
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Dreaming.
“I used to be a competitive swimmer and was a lifeguard for the better part of 6 years. I used to have dreams of ‘flying’ at the bottom of the crystal clear ocean. I still remember the sensation, the controlled breathing, my arms outstretched just gliding along.”
Quitting a toxic job.
“This is weird, but the day I decided 100% to quit my toxic, full time job and retake my life even knowing i had no fall back.. driving two hours from my girl’s house with the windows down, on a summer night with a warm breeze tustling my hair like getting a headpat by an angel.”
Finishing a marathon.
“I trained for 3 months and although a decent athlete already, I had never run more than 8 miles. I worker really hard to compete and ran the first 20 miles slightly faster than expected (8:00/mi) before hitting the famous “wall” at mile 20. My speed dropped drastically but kept going without walking. As I approached the finish, I saw my gf and friends cheering me on as I pushed through the end and wept for 5 min from pure joy and pain.”
Going to the gym.
“Probably when I began to go to the gym. The first day was very rough because I have never went to a gym before so I was really tired. When I got home I just took a hot shower, I let myself fell into my bed and man…I fell asleep like in 5 seconds, bro I reeeeeally slept well that night. The best sleep I’ve ever had.”
Working through a problem.
“I had a small project go wrong. As I went to fix one part, a sub-part messed up. So I had to step back to work on that. Then a sub-sub-part messed up. I took another step back. What I expected to take 20 minutes took 4ish hours. But 3.5 hours in, I thought there was no way it would work out at all. When I got it all fixed, I did the Billy Madison ‘I AM THE SMARTEST MAN ALIVE.'”
When school gets cancelled.
“When school’s cancelled for the day and you’re half-asleep and overhear your mother tell your sister not to wake you up because school’s out. Used to leave a smile on my face before snuggling back into my covers.”
Getting the ledger back in the black.
“Getting my first paycheck after 4 years of juuuust making “enough” and a year of Covid-out-of-work and getting a job that pay more than I’ve ever had experienced. Having just something else than a negative number at the end of the month for maybe the first time in 5 YEARS… That.”
Driving hard to the net.
“I was playing in a pro-am basketball game. Took a guy to the basket and scored on him. He was 2nd team ALL NBA Defensive the year before. I was twice his age and balding. The crowd went nuts and the DJ ripped him the rest of the game. Best feeling ever. Sorry I was mistaken. He was 2nd team all rookie in 91-92. It was Mark Macon.”
A good massage.
“I once had a massage where I could feel what I can only describe as strings of stress being pushed out of my back. I could actually feel these things being ungrouped and pushed out of my shoulder blades. I still try and get massages when I can but have never felt that since. It was a magical moment.”
Doing it yourself.
“After consulting 3 high powered attorneys about my fiancé’s citizenship case, and being told they wouldn’t take it bc it was impossible to win, I, a layperson spent a week, night and day, studying the law and putting together 125 pages document, received in the mail that he won the case and got his citizenship in the US.”
Swimming in the ocean.
“I was swimming with friends in the Pacific Ocean at Balboa Park in California. I got wiped out by a huge wave. My friends helped me out of the water, and I went and laid on the grass underneath palm trees looking up at the clear blue sky. A feeling of peace just washed over my body. I’ve never felt that kind of thing again.”
Being a parent.
“The day my daughter was born, I was holding her in front of me. Just sitting in a chair in the hospital staring at her. I have the most vivid memory of being so elated and overwhelmed by emotions that my body completely stopped automatic breathing. Every few seconds I would start to run out of air and gasp a little to catch my breath manually. I held her for what felt like an hour.”
Making a full recovery.
“I was diagnosed with MS at age 17 after losing all large and fine motor skills and going completely numb in my entire body excluding the head and neck. I had to relearn everything and missed out on feeling hugs and physical touch for a few months—as well as simple things like walking and feeding myself. I was able to make a full recovery and my best friend encouraged me to exceed what everyone expected of me.”
Hearing her voice.
“My girlfriend is mute but her voice returns for very short periods of time. From what I’m guessing 1-5 minutes to a time. She told me that she got her voice back, and I was extremely happy and asked her what she said. She said she just repeated my name and I cried hearing this.”
Lobster ravioli.
“A pretty rich school mate treated us to a fancy restaurant for their birthday and they served us lobster ravioli for a starter. I can’t explain the explosion of joy and palette pleasure as I ate something like that for the first time. I don’t know if it was the lobster itself, or the sauce. No meal has ever come close to how good that was. I can still remember it vividly 12 years later. Silly, but that’s it.”
Chicken broth.
“I was intubated for a month because of a motorcycle accident — no food of any kind. When they took out the tube, they gave me a cup of chicken broth. No chicken — just salt and chicken flavor — and it was The. Best. Meal. I. Ever. Ate.”
Having a Facetime-worthy garden.
“Maybe not ‘greatest’ but I grew a bunch of flowers in my garden this year (for the bees) and overheard a girl facetiming with her friend talking about how much she loves my garden and was showing off all the flowers that have bloomed.”
Finishing giving birth.
“Immediatey after giving birth, like right when she came out, all the pressure and heaviness in my stomach went away immediately and it was the best feeling. Going from being stretched out, bloated, with a baby pushing on your organs to totally empty was a huge relief to me.”
Watching Buffy with no interruptions.
“I have a few, but the one that comes to mind is coming home holding my divorce papers, settling into the couch, and knowing I could watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer with no one trying to make me miserable!”
Dreaming about, uh, being a toaster.
“I had a dream that I was a toaster.
“I ‘woke’ with a feeling of anticipation. Then I made toast with pure concentration. Afterwards I was entirely fulfilled, having accomplished the ultimate purpose of my existence.”
