The things we get excited about now

There comes a point in life when your definition of excitement becomes wonderfully specific.

The first coffee of the day is no longer simply a beverage. It is an event. That first sip when the house is quiet and the day hasn’t quite got started.

There is a moment when you think, yes, this is going to be a good day.

A perfectly ripe peach is another matter entirely.

There is a very small window between almost ready and suddenly overripe, but when you get it right, it’s glorious. Juicy, sweet and completely worth standing over the kitchen sink for.

Some pleasures require very little.

Freshly washed hair.

Fresh sheets.

Two of life’s great luxuries.

There is something about freshly washed hair that makes you feel as though you’ve really got your life together. The emails are still there, the washing hasn’t folded itself and dinner remains an unanswered question, but your hair is excellent.

And fresh sheets?

Getting into bed early has quietly become one of life’s great pleasures.

There was a time when 9pm would have felt like the evening was barely beginning. Now it can feel like excellent planning.

Then there is the empty inbox.

Nothing waiting for you.

Nothing demanding your attention.

Nothing asking for a reply.

Just an empty inbox, sitting there quietly asking nothing of you.

Beautiful.

And we must acknowledge the parking fairy.

You turn into the car park and there it is.

A rock star parking spot.

Right near the door. No circling. No negotiating. No carrying seventeen things across the car park because you refused to make two trips.

You take it.

You feel chosen.

There is also the particular joy of finding something you’ve been looking for everywhere.

You check the obvious places, then the ridiculous places, then the places you’ve already checked three times.

And suddenly there it is, sitting in plain sight.

You experience a brief surge of triumph that is entirely disproportionate to the achievement.

But still.

Victory.

Perhaps this is one of the pleasures of getting older.

The things that make us happy become wonderfully specific.

A really good peach.

The first coffee.

Freshly washed hair.

Fresh sheets.

A walk when the weather is perfect.

Your favourite lipstick turning up at the bottom of your handbag.

Finding the perfect parking spot.

Getting home before the rain.

A song you haven’t heard in years.

An afternoon with nowhere you need to be.

Nothing extraordinary.

And yet somehow, a very good day.

Maybe we haven’t become less easily entertained.

Perhaps we’ve simply become much better at noticing what makes life feel good.

There is something rather lovely about that.

The older we get, the more we recognise the little things that bring pleasure. The things that make an ordinary Tuesday feel a little more enjoyable. The moments that don’t require an occasion, a plan or anyone else’s approval.

A good coffee.

A beautiful morning.

A favourite song.

A peach at exactly the right moment.

Sometimes, that is enough.

And perhaps that’s the real luxury.

Having an ordinary day that is actually a very good day.

Long may we celebrate the peach, the first coffee, the fresh sheets and the rock star parking spot.

There is beauty in the ordinary.And sometimes, the ordinary is pretty fabulous.