Maybe I Can with Debbie Weiss

Ep. 111: A Sprinkle of Delight with Debbie Weiss

• Debbie Weiss

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In this episode of Maybe I Can, titled “A Sprinkle of Delight: Finding Joy in Life’s Little Details”, we explore the magic of small, simple joys that brighten our days. From fun holiday earrings to the perfect cup of coffee, these tiny moments of delight can lift our spirits, shift our mindset, and remind us that happiness is often found in the details. I share personal stories, the science behind why small joys matter, and practical tips to help you notice and embrace more of them in your life. Tune in to discover how choosing to focus on life’s sprinkles can bring unexpected joy and create a ripple effect of positivity every day! ✨

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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to Maybe I Can, exploring possibilities, one sprinkle at a time. If you've ever found yourself asking is this all there is to life, then you're in the right place. I'm Debbie author, speaker, entrepreneur and coach, and every Tuesday, I'm here to share a sprinkle of hope and inspiration. Together, we'll uncover the more More joy, more fulfillment, more prosperity, more fun. We'll share stories of transformation, actionable tips and that little nudge you need to take the next step. So let's embark on this journey of discovery and say maybe I can to a life filled with more, ready to find out. Let's get started. The Maybe I Can Show starts now.

Speaker 1:

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Maybe I Can Podcast. I'm your host, debbie Weiss, and today we are going to be diving into a topic that's small but incredibly powerful, and it's a topic that I am calling a sprinkle of delight, and I have to tell you that I needed this today. Here's a perfect example of how this can help, and so I'll tell you why I needed this topic today and this reminder. I've had like not the best day I'm recording this. It's four o'clock Eastern time, so I kind of feel like, okay, my day's kind of winding down, and it started with having to take Yogi to the vet just for his annual regular wellness checkup. And if you don't know, yogi is my 13 and a half year old multi-poo, who we've had since he was eight weeks old. He is, as all of our pets are, my love, my companion, especially been here for me big time since Gary, my husband got sick and eventually passed away two years ago. He and I do everything together. We go to work together, we sleep together. He is in there while I shower, he watches me do everything. He's under my desk right now. He really does not leave my side. And about a year ago he wound up in the hospital, almost died it was horrible but found out that he has heart disease and he had pulmonary hypertension. And boy, why am I going on about this? Because this certainly isn't turning into a sprinkle of delight, but anyhow so. But knock on wood, he's been doing well with a bazillion drugs that I have to give him a million times a day, but it's working. So I do not care.

Speaker 1:

But this morning when I went to the vet, she mentioned that there could be something else wrong, that could possibly be cancer, and did I want to have him come back in a month to recheck, and then what would we do and like so okay, so you get that idea, that whole discussion. And then I came home and my youngest son was very upset about something and very emotional, and I could feel his stress and his anxiety and I just wanted to take it away. But I can't, I can't take it away. He's 22. He's not two, he's got to kind of figure it out on his own. But you know, I'm sure you can relate if you're a parent. It doesn't matter whether you know that intellectually it's still. It's like this little hole in your heart. You just want them to feel better.

Speaker 1:

And then my older son. Then he comes and tells me about something that's going on with him today with a friend, and he's upset and he doesn't know why, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I thought, oh, my goodness, calgon, take me away. Remember that ad if you're old enough. And I thought you know what I don't need, calgon. I need to concentrate on the little things in my day, in my life, that actually give me kind of that hit of I don't want to call it joy, but I guess the terms are interchangeable.

Speaker 1:

I like the word delight, because joy can mean a lot of other things and kind of like, I think, of joy. That seems something huge and I don't know, just a big thing where little sprinkles of little moments of delight in your day, something that gives you that kind of like, you know, little passing pleasure. So what am I talking about? They're kind of like quick hits, you know, for me and I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you a lot of the things that are my little sprinkles of joy, of delight, and I can guarantee that you're not, they're not yours because I seem to have this other side of me. I'm very I don't want to say I'm serious, but I am. I mean, I've been a business owner for over 30 years. I have been a caregiver for over 40 years. I'm a widow. I have dealt with many of life's hardest challenges and I don't shy away from them. But there's this side of me that gets joy, happiness, delight, pleasure from little things, things like I like.

Speaker 1:

And if you're not watching on YouTube today, I have on red heart earrings, not huge ones but pretty big ones, oh, my goodness. I'm looking at myself now in my computer screen because it's recording and it makes me smile. I have on pink Uggs not regular color Uggs, of course not. They're pink and I love them. I have a little sign sitting here on my desk that says live in the moment, and it makes me happy. I have a hot pink stapler right here. Okay, it's a stapler, but because of the color. But because of the color it makes me smile.

Speaker 1:

My newest thing, my oldest newest thing, is remember when you were younger maybe you use them now, but I haven't used it for years those Bic pens that had the choice of four different colors of ink that you could use when you press it down so black, red, blue or green. I had seen them when we were away in Quebec in December and I don't know why I didn't buy it. I kept looking at it and saying to my friend oh my God, look at those pens. Oh my gosh, I haven't seen those pens. And for Christmas she got me a box of these pens and I can't even tell you how much it makes me happy. And mine, of course, has a pink bottom, and so every time I pick this up it's a little sprinkle of delight.

Speaker 1:

As I said, yours are going to be very different, but why? Why does this even matter? It seems like you might be thinking who cares? Who cares? They're such small things but we often focus on, like such huge milestones when you got married, when you bought a house, when you got a promotion, I don't know, all of those types of things which, of course, bring you happiness and joy. Types of things which, of course, bring you happiness and joy. But if you really think about it, I don't want to say they're few and far between, but those big, big things, they are few and far between, and if we only focus on those tiny moments every day that you might not be aware of, that you might not be noticing or giving any quote, unquote credit to, it's these things that really can change our lives, those small little things, and so today we're going to talk about why they matter, how are you going to notice them and how are you going to make sure that you create more of these moments in your life? Sure that you create more of these moments in your life, because, just like everything else, it won't happen unless you become aware of them, unless you're intentional about it.

Speaker 1:

Let me give you one more example that happens to be on my mind, and, since it's January, I've had to change my nail polish since then and I think I might have mentioned it on another podcast, but back in December my nail friend who does my nails she painted this cute little Santa design. I mean, I can't explain it, even if I did, and you might look at it and say, okay, big deal, that Santa design every single time. Think of how often you notice your hands and maybe you don't notice, but when you have a little cute Santa staring back at you, you notice it more often, and every time I noticed it during the day, it made me happy. I couldn't wait to share my Santa design with other people, and if they got excited about it, oh my goodness, it was like double the fun. I couldn't wait to share my sense of design with other people, and if they got excited about it, oh my goodness, it was like double the fun, it was amazing.

Speaker 1:

Why is this? What is it about these small joys that cause us to feel those little quick hits? And there is a science behind it, and if you've listened to me before, you'll know that science ate my jam. So this isn't going to be too technical. It's going to be, I want to say, dummy down to my level, but every time that you feel that little hit of joy. Every time that you feel that little hit of joy, dopamine, which is the feel-good neurotransmitter, it helps create a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. And so when you experience those moments of delight whether it could be, I don't know, the smell of morning coffee or that coziness of being able to stay inside and hear the rain outside on the roof pounding down, but knowing you're warm and safe inside, whatever that is for you dopamine is released. And that dopamine signals that something positive is happening and it reinforces those behaviors because it leads to those feelings. And then you want to hear it, you want to feel that more and more.

Speaker 1:

So your brain is kind of like always looking right for a dopamine hit, so to speak, and there's ways that you can get it, that people you know try and get that feel good dopamine hit from things that might be I don't want to say inappropriate, but could become I don't want to say inappropriate, but could become oh gosh, can you believe I can't think of the word like too much alcohol, or eating too much sweet rich foods or I don't know something like that. Isn't it better to get dopamine during the day from all these cute little sprinkles that you incorporate into your life. These small, frequent bursts of dopamine can actually be more impactful than those large surges that are tied to major life events, because these frequent releases keep our mood elevated throughout the day and they help us to stay motivated and energized. And each time that you notice or appreciate a sprinkle of delight, your brain reinforces the habit and it wants to seek similar experiences. So over time, this creates like a self-sustaining cycle of noticing and enjoying the small things and besides making your life happier which not that that's a small thing those dopamine hits and boosts can actually enhance your focus and productivity, it can improve your emotional resilience, it could help you with stress management and it contributes to your overall mental well-being. What also happens with this is that your brain is neuroplastic. Is that your brain is neuroplastic? So neuroplasticity is your brain's ability to adapt and rewire itself based on new experiences and behaviors. So here's how this sprinkle of delight relates to this If you think of your brain like a muscle that you have to work or work out. When you practice noticing small joys, you actually strengthen those neural pathways associated with positive thinking and mindfulness and over time, your rewiring makes it easier for you to naturally focus on the good, even in a challenging situation.

Speaker 1:

You know, this morning, when I wasn't really even thinking that I was going to talk about this today, even though I knew that this was my topic, I went outside at 6.40 this morning it was probably like 17 degrees outside and taking Yogi for his first morning walk and I was freezing and not happy really to be outside that early and all of a sudden I looked over on the grass and I saw a squirrel and he wasn't running, he was kind of like hopping and it made me smile and I thought to myself I didn't know that squirrels hopped Like. Is that how all squirrels move? Like you have to understand. I don't even know. I was trying to think of a period of time a year ago, two years ago, five years ago, for sure I would have never paid attention to that. That is not the kind of thing that I noticed.

Speaker 1:

Some people are really tuned into the nature around them. I was not. I was not at all.

Speaker 1:

As a matter of fact, my house is overlooking. I don't want to say it's a farm. It's not a big farm, there's houses all around, but it is a little bit of an old what's left of a farm. It has a little pond and my husband used to sit outside on the porch. Now, of course he used to smoke. He'd be out there smoking, drinking his coffee. He would spend hours out there. And I would go out there and say what are you doing? What are you doing out here? And he said, I'm looking, I'm watching what's going on around me.

Speaker 1:

He knew when the praying mantises showed up in our bushes and the bees and the birds, and when the grass was starting to grow and all of these things, and I thought what a ridiculous waste of time things. And I thought what a ridiculous waste of time he's just sitting out here watching life pass him by and I have all of these things that I need to do and I don't have time to be sitting out there. I was so wrong. I wish that I could tell him now. I get it. I get what you were doing and I never understood it. So maybe to you, you notice the squirrel hops? I never noticed a squirrel hops.

Speaker 1:

For me that was a big moment because it also did make me stop, because I have been in this practice for at least several years now and so I can appreciate, I can actually stop and notice that. I noticed the squirrel and noticed what this practice has done for me. It's created this new awareness of things that are going on around me that I never appreciated. So now I am, I'm noticing so many more things that are bringing me delight, things that weren't bringing me delight before, and maybe that's because I just wasn't aware of them. I wasn't paying attention to them, of them, I wasn't paying attention to them.

Speaker 1:

When this starts to happen and you start to notice all these things, it can also kind of like override your negative thinking patterns, because your brain is now has these new neural pathways that are there to create and focus on these positive moments, and it kind of like pushes the negative out of your life. It really is amazing. The thing is, though, as I said in the beginning, it's not a one-time fix. You can't go out after this podcast and say, oh look, I noticed this. Well, I'm good. No, it is a daily practice. It's like building your muscles constantly and consistently engaging with these moments, and it's the daily repetition more than once a day, that starts to really strengthen these pathways and be responsible for having this positivity effect, which then becomes your natural default, which is for sure, and I can say firsthand that is something that I have experienced. Think about it like each one is like a small little drop in a bucket that seems insignificant, but over time it truly does Like, if you visualize this bucket with the little sprinkles of delight that are going in, and over time it turns into this overflowing bucket of happiness. Think about some of the things in your life that you don't even realize that they're bringing you joy. So let me give you now a few examples of some of mine.

Speaker 1:

I already talked about my earrings and my nails and I talked about Yogi, but not in the good way. Last night he and I were laying in bed and I turned on my side, which is like turning towards I don't know like. The rest of the bed is behind me, so to speak, and I realized here I am in a king size bed, literally hanging off the edge. No other person is in there, it's just me. Yogi, who's 25 pounds, mind you, he's not a big hundred pound dog, 25 pounds is snuggled up beside me and I left. I thought I wish I could call someone in here now to take a picture of this bed, and how ridiculous this looks, because I'm practically falling off this bed because I didn't want to disturb the dog God forbid right and he has to be right next to me. He couldn't move over a little bit so I could use more of the bed, and so I even went to sleep thinking, oh my gosh, I just have to laugh at this whole situation.

Speaker 1:

Another thing for me is that I love Diet Coke. I love Diet Coke from McDonald's, and every morning I get a Diet Coke and if you've been listening, I'm sure you know this about me. It's a big habit of mine, and let's not talk about how bad Diet Coke is for you. Leave that for another time. This is what I do. And every morning I go to the same McDonald's and the woman at the drive-thru I don't even have to talk. She sees my car, she knows it's me, and I just get on the speaker and I say good morning and she says I know, lady, you know, and she likes, has something funny to say every day. Sometimes she calls me by name, sometimes she gives me the business, sometimes every day it's different, every day it's different and you know, there's something about that. She's also like I don't think that she doesn't come across as a naturally upbeat person, so I kind of even like it more that we have this kind of rapport and no matter what mood I'm in when I drive up to that drive through, I always pull out with a smile because of our interaction and because I think to myself.

Speaker 1:

You know, it's these type of relationships in our lives that we don't give a lot of credence or credit to right. It's our big friendships and our family. But this woman has a huge impact on my life and I have to say I can't ever remember her name. So I'm too embarrassed after all these years to ask her name. I probably should. I even I gave her. I give her presents at Christmas, I mean, cause she's a big part of my life and my day and she brings joy to my day. She makes me smile each and every day and in addition, she gives me that wonderful McDonald's Diet Coke.

Speaker 1:

Some of the other things I have talked about many times If you're watching on YouTube, it's my pair eyewear glasses with all my different toppers. Each day I get to change my glasses into a different design based on my outfit, my mood, and this makes me very happy. Let's talk about some things that possibly could make you happy. Not just my things to give you an idea. You know there's, I want to say, common ones, like the sound of a child's laughter, the feeling of clean sheets on a bed. Oh, is there anything better? Another thing that just reminded me I remember I used to get in bed. I used to say to Gary there is nothing better than that time of day when you get in bed and you snuggle in there and you start to relax and it's just that feeling, that feeling of. I mean you know you're going to drift off to sleep, but it's, I don't know, I don't know, maybe you can put it into better words, but it's just that wonderful, cozy, comfortable, relaxing feeling of first getting into bed, kind of taking a breath and relaxing at the end of a long day. Maybe it's hitting all the green lights when you're driving somewhere. How great is that? I think you know what I'm talking about. So how do we spot these things? We do have to be intentional, we do have to slow down, we do have to be intentional, we do have to slow down.

Speaker 1:

And maybe I'd say think about all your senses. Is it something maybe that you find visually pleasing, like my hot pink stapler or my earrings. Is it a sound, is it laughter? Is it birds? Or your favorite song? Hey, nothing better than hearing your favorite song on the radio. No one's in the car with you. You crank it and you sing at the top of your lungs. Maybe it's something that you touch like a blanket, cozy, pajamas my son Ben. He loves his soft hoodies. They have to be soft inside. If he could wear that and pajama pants for the rest of his life he'd be happy. Maybe it's something you taste like coffee, chocolate, a favorite meal. How about what smells? Flowers, baking cookies, the ocean.

Speaker 1:

Then, if that doesn't help, you think of something that brings you that sprinkle of delight. Think back to moments when you felt truly content. What were you doing? Who were you with? Where were they? Maybe it's a good idea. Try something new, Take a different route when you go for a walk, Try a new hobby, go to a museum, I don't know. Something that maybe sparks your curiosity, that it's kind of like you're on this adventure to look for your own sprinkles of delight. Even notice like the little wins when you finish a chore, especially a chore that you can't stand. It's that great feeling when you're done, or when you find a good parking spot, or you solve a problem or complete a puzzle, something like that.

Speaker 1:

If none of that resonates, sit down and think about, at the end of the day, what made you smile unexpectedly today. What was that thing? Or what's one thing in your home or your office or your workspace that you love seeing every single day, workspace that you love seeing every single day. It's a good idea. You know I like lists. Write them down. Make a list of 10 things, 100 things. Keep them in your phone or in your notebook or in your planner or wherever you have access to, just in case you forget. Some days, dark days, you forget. Pull out that list and make sure to incorporate a sprinkle of delight into your day.

Speaker 1:

I would love it. I'm going to start posting on my social media hashtag sprinkle of delight and sharing with you some of the things in my life that bring me delight, and I would love if you would post and do the same and make sure, on Instagram, to tag me at debbierweiss. So, so whoops, I lost my train of thought. That's no sprinkle of delight. So today I want you to choose to notice and celebrate those little sprinkles. Today's not over, maybe, when you're listening. Today's just beginning. Wherever you are, I want you to make sure to at least have one sprinkle of delight that you acknowledge and are aware of today. And this is just the start, the start. Today has been an actual oh my goodness, I am tongue-tied absolute sprinkle of delight for me being here with you today.

Speaker 1:

Next time we are going to talk about something quite different. In the next episode we're going to dive into learning to loosen your grip and finding the freedom to let go. But until then, remember those sprinkle of delight are everywhere. You just need to look for them. Go out there and find them and make sure to tag me. Hashtag sprinkle of delight.

Speaker 1:

See you next week. Thanks for spending part of your day with me here on Maybe I Can, exploring possibilities, one sprinkle at a time. It's been great having you and I hope you're leaving with a spark to light up your journey to more. Remember, every big change starts with a single maybe. If you're ready to kickstart that change, but not sure where to begin, I've got just the thing for you. Head over to download my free guide the One Critical Step to Kickstart Change, and take that all-important first step. Let's make those maybes into reality, one sprinkle at a time. Catch you next Tuesday at 4 pm Eastern, 1 pm Pacific, with more stories, tips and that extra push you might need. I'm Debbie saying goodbye for now, but always remember, maybe, just maybe, you can.

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Debbie Weiss

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