Ross,
Great topic! I truly believe it is the small pleasures and the little things that can make a big difference in life. I find the small pleasures in my daughter and my soon the be daughter (days away). Seeing my daughter smile or feeling my soon to be daughter kick brings me joy. I work as much as I do to try to make a better life for my family. Long hours and a lot of work make it all worth it to see my family happy. I went through a real rough patch a while back where I was just a real bitter person and was nothing less than a real jerk to be around. I was holding far to much emotional baggage and took out my frustrations on the ones I loved and also people I did not even know. One day my daughter asked why I never smiled and why I was always upset. She said it is hard to be happy when you are so sad. It was like someone hit me in the chest with a baseball bat! From that point on I realized that I need to find the little things in life to be happy about, and she was right in front of me. From that point on I have dropped my emotional baggage and lived for my family. Life is far to short to be bitter.
All I can tell people is that you get one chance to live and if you are not living life to the fullest then you need to re-evaluate things in your life. One quick look around you and you will see something to be happy about.
I know this might be a little off your subject but my simple pleasures are seeing those around me happy and if I can have a little hand in that then I am doing something right.
Best regards,
Scott