Of All the Finer Things in Life, What Are the Finest? And How Do You Find Them?

I was in my car earlier today on my way out to grab some lunch. Steve Winwood’s song, The Finer Things was on the classic rock station and it got me thinking… which is a dangerous occurrence.

What exactly are these finer things?

Has your definition of the finer things changed over time? Mine absolutely has. Fortunately.

Definitions can vary widely. Something considered fine for one may be viewed as frivolous to another.

On the surface, the song The Finer Things seems to be about appreciating the simpler things in life, like laughter or being with the person you love. If you poke around the web, you’ll find those with darker interpretations such as being controlled by material wealth.

I’ll save that worldview for those with a thesis to write.

Steve Winwood’s song was co-written with Will Jennings who wrote the lyrics side for many of Winwood’s songs. Talking about The Finer Things, Jennings was quoted on songfacts.com saying…

“That came out of being in England, hanging out, staying up all night in London, and partying and everything else. ‘The Finer Things’ is sort of expressive of all that running around: ‘I’ve been sad, and I’ve walked bitter streets alone. But come morning there’s a good wind to blow me home.’ Then it’s philosophical: ‘Time is a river rolling into nowhere. I will live while I can, I will have my ever after.'”

When I was growing up in a small Midwestern town in the Heartland, I would often spend hours on end daydreaming… trying to imagine what the rest of the world was like.

What was I missing out on? And, how can I fix that?

A family I knew down the street came into some money, which allowed them to travel and find out a bit about what was “out there” in the rest of the world. I was good friends with the two brothers and got to learn about their adventures first hand.

The end of every vacation (and they went on a lot of vacations) came with unimaginable stories of their adventures in the places they had visited.

This created massive amounts of curiosity in my young brain of mush about these so-called finer things. Before that, going out to the new Pizza Hut in town would qualify for me.

Then came college followed by landing a big corporate job in Dallas.  This allowed me to slowly… step by step… dabble in the finer things of the new and unfolding lifestyle of the yuppie.

There could be no better place to experience this unfolding right before my eyes. 

The goal was two BMW’s in the driveway (which I never obtained, by the way).

I’m not sure what happened to those times. Perhaps they just don’t call them yuppies anymore? There is some encouragement on the horizon, whatever the truth may be…

I read a story late last year with the headline, “What is Your Definition of Wealth?” All I could think was here we go again. The story was based on a 2018 survey known as Charles Schwab’s Modern Wealth Index. Sounds cool, huh?

At this point, I’m not even sure why I kept reading. 

But I’m glad I did.

When asked to give their own definition of wealth, which I’m thinking that will involve how many finer things one could afford, many respondents didn’t even mention money.

Check out these finer things…

• Spending time with loved ones (62 percent)
• Having enough time to oneself (55 percent)
• Owning a home (49 percent)
• Eating out often or having meals delivered (41 percent)
• Having subscription services such as movie/TV packages and music streaming (33 percent)

Just 11 percent said, “having lots of money.” WOW. That’s remarkable.

There may be hope for the humans yet!

I’m always committed to telling the whole story… there were still close to 20 percent who said being able to afford anything they desired would make them truly wealthy. Oh well, good for them.

I think the 17 percent who said “having loving relationships with family and friends would be most fulfilling” are closest to getting it right.

And Steve Winwood and Will Jennings absolutlely got it right… 

The finer things [do] keep shining through”

— Steve Winwood and Will Jennings

The older I get, the less I want, and I need even less than that.”

How about you?

Be untucked.

p.s. As I was Googling around researching the song, one of the page-one hits was AmysFinerThings.com  a lifestyle blog dedicated to Embracing the Extraordinary in Every Day. Today, Amy’s home page is sporting “The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.”

I think Amy might know something!

Before you go… scroll down and leave me a comment.

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