Study
reveals top 50 things that make people in Britain feel 'great' – and they are
mostly free
The Independent
It’s said that the simple
things in life are often the best – and the British public appears to agree.
In a survey asking 2,000
people what it was that made them “feel great”, a staggering 62 per cent listed
sleeping in a freshly-made bed.
While some of the feel-good
factors people chose implied expenditure – like the smell of a new car (34th),
the scent of fine wine (37th) or the royal family (50th) – many of the best
come for free.
Second in the top 50, listed
by 57 per cent of respondents, was “feeling the sun on your face”, while simply
“being thanked” or kindness from a stranger came third with 53 per cent.
The survey, commissioned by
Bupa, found that Britons are more takers than givers, with “doing something for
others” relegated to 9th place.
The full
table of results
1. Sleeping in a freshly made
bed – 62%
2. Feeling the sun on your
face – 57%
3. Being thanked, or a random
act of kindness from a stranger – 53%
4. Finding money in unexpected
places – 52%
5. Having time to yourself –
48%
6. Laughing so hard it hurts –
48%
7. Snuggling on the sofa with
a loved one – 44%
8. Smelling freshly made bread
– 43%
9. Doing something for others
– 43%
10. Feeling clean after a
shower – 42%
11. Your favourite song coming
on the radio – 42%
12. Finding a bargain in the
sales – 41%
13. Listening to
rainfall/thunderstorms when indoors – 40%
14. Drinking freshly brewed
tea or coffee – 39%
15. The thrill of personal
achievement at work or completing a physical challenge – 38%
16. Having a long, hot bath –
36%
17. Seeing a fresh coating of
snow – 34%
18. The smell of freshly cut
grass – 34%
19. Chocolate melting in your
mouth – 33%
20. Doing something active
outdoors like a bike ride, run or country walk – 32%
21. Cooking bacon in the
morning – 32%
22. Talking to or playing with
your pet – 30%
23. A soothing massage – 30%
24. That ‘Friday feeling’ –
30%
25. Eating a perfectly cooked
steak – 29%
26. Waking up before the alarm
and realising there’s more time to sleep – 28%
27. Exercising – 24%
28. Seeing a rainbow – 23%
29. Remembering the name of
someone or something you thought you’d forgotten – 23%
30. Baking a perfect cake or
pie – 23%
31. Stepping on crunchy autumn
leaves – 21%
32. Popping bubble wrap – 20%
33. Swimming in the sea or
lake – 20%
34. The smell of a new car –
20%
35. Dancing like no one’s
watching – 19%
36. The smell of new books or
magazines – 19%
37. The smell of a fine wine –
16%
38. Setting your ‘out of
office’ message before going on holiday – 15%
39. Putting on a brand new
pair of socks – 14%
40. Watching your breath float
away in cold air – 12%
41. Getting new stationery – 11%
42. Singing in the shower –
11%
43. Getting a seat on the bus,
train or Tube – 11%
44. Picking an orange from the
fruit bowl that is easy to peel – 9%
45. Loosening your jeans after
eating – 9%
46. The ‘pop’ when opening a
new jar of jam – 9%
47. Squeezing a spot – 8%
48. Cleaning your ears – 8%
49. Cleaning the bathroom – 6%
50. Thinking about the Royal
family – 4%
TV presenter Tess Daly,
launching the Bupa campaign, said: “We all have those little things that make
us feel great – for me it’s feeling the sun on my face.”
The survey also found that the
extent to which we feel great regularly is linked to our age. While more than a
fifth of over-55s said they have a moment where they feel great every day,
across the whole age spectrum just one in eight (12.5 per cent) said they felt
great more than once a month.
Daly said that “with modern
society being so busy people struggle to find the time and lack the inspiration
to enjoy a feel great moment”.