I know something about living in joy. After all, I am the “Joy Strategist”! One thing I know for certain is that every day brings the opportunity to live joyfully. Circumstances change, the wheel of fortune turns,
what is today may not be tomorrow. But to live joyfully is something we can choose today, every day, regardless of what’s going on around us. I hope you embrace these suggestions to live a most joyous life!
Be intentional – In the hustle and bustle of everyday life it can be challenging to truly live, let alone live with joy. It can be done; however, you must be intentional about it. There is so much joy we take for granted simply because we are too busy to notice it. Some of the biggest sources of joy are nature itself. Sunrises and sunsets, colorful foliage, a soft breeze or a silky night with bright stars are all joyous and a reason to celebrate, yet we don’t celebrate these enough because we don’t see them. When you are intentional about joyful living, you begin to see things you never noticed before and you start celebrating things you previously hadn’t. Joy is all around us if we take enough time to really see the world we live in instead of just rushing through it.
Our emotional state is ours to manage – You may have heard the adage, “It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is,” and allowing this to be a guiding mantra through your life will increase your chances of experiencing joy. Situations and occurrences are by their very nature, just things that happen. It’s our human need to label what happens to us as good or bad, and this labeling is usually what produces feelings that aren’t always quite so joyful. When we manage our emotional state, we decide to live from the inside out rather than the outside in. In other words, what happens to you is less important that what is happening through you. Choosing to embrace all that is going on and seeing it objectively, helps you to live in a more joyful state. In addition to eliminating a victim mentality, managing your emotions will help you to see that change is always occurring. Determining whether or not to be joyful based on current events is going to be a bumpy ride at best. Your emotions are the one thing that you can always control, if you choose to do so.
Time is the only currency that matters – Of all the things we strive for, time is the one thing that we are never able to buy or negotiate more of. We also can’t coerce or convince it to do our bidding. Time marches on and once it’s gone it’s gone. People who live joyfully seem to be incredibly clear about this concept, do not take time for granted and make distinct choices on a daily basis about how they want to spend their time. Not surprisingly, the most joyful people are the people who make sure that they spend a great deal of time with the people they love and/or doing activities they love. Joyful people instinctively know that relationships and experiences are what bring a fullness to life and that fullness is what ultimately brings joy.
If you’ve ever struggled with feeling like you should be “happier”, take a look at these three things and ask yourself how you are doing in each of these areas. Happiness is usually achieved as a result of something external. Joy, and certainly true joy, comes from within and can be accessed and experienced deeply and fully every single day.
Here’s to your Joy Strategies!
