Joy is your natural state of well-being. It is you it is who you are at your core. Pure joy and pure light.
How does it feel to hear that? Are you thinking, “There’s no way this is true about me?”
I can assure you; it is true.
Remembering joy
Life happens and we get bogged down by the day to day challenges and demands on our time and our energy. It seems as though we move further and further away from our natural state of joy.
If you think back to when you were first new in this world – before there were expectations from others or messages from society about who you are and what you should be doing, and all the other conditioned ways of being that we either absorbed from others or created for ourselves – your natural state was joy.
Have you ever seen a baby just delight in the simplest of all pleasures? Or a toddler who excitedly pushes their way out of their stroller as they approach the park and joyously runs toward the play equipment? Or the little child so wrapped up in their own imagination as they skip and talk to themselves, and delight at the little flower that they just picked? They intently notice everything about it – the shape, colors, and how it feels and smells. They pay far more attention to this flower – admiring its detail in a way that we just don’t “have time and patience for” anymore.
Yet, you were once a child not so long ago and that curiosity and joy was also in you. That was your natural state too.
In adulthood you may tend to gravitate towards those who are joyful. Who have a certain magnetism, and contagious optimism. Or you may be drawn to their helping nature, or their wisdom and humor. This is not elusive and available only to them. It is available to you as well.
Being joyful and bringing joy into your life does not have to be bestowed on certain people or even experienced at certain times of year (I’m looking at you holiday season). It’s not a once a time, one time a year emotion or vibe. It is something that you can bring into your life on a daily basis.
The importance of joy
Why is it important to experience joy on a daily basis? Not only because it is your natural state of being, but because you are healthiest in your mind, your body, and your spirit when you are in joy.
- You are more at peace.
- You are more calm.
- You are more able to weather the storms of life – riding our emotions instead of being ridden by them.
- You are the observer of the chaos around us, versus being a participant in the drama.
- You attract the experiences in our life that are a match for that vibration of joy.
The people around you will notice a change in the way you’re showing up in the world. And although they may not say anything about it, or even realize it consciously, they do feel it. And that vibration radiates out to them as well.
Then things seem to begin improving with relationships in your life. Not only the people who are closest to you, but anyone who you connect with regularly, and also strangers. Others may appear friendlier to you and things around you start to magically fall into place and go a little bit better. You will wonder, “Is it them, or is it me?”
When you intentionally bring joy in your life, you are creating a habit of experiencing and radiating joy. There are no negatives to this equation.
There is, however, something to avoid: Don’t force the feeling of joy. Being joyful is not something that you need to feel obligated towards or phony doing.
Experiencing joy authentically and consistently
To start bringing more joy into your life, start with these 2 simple practices:
- Figure out what you really love and what bring you joy. Brainstorm and write it down. For inspiration, sometimes going back to childhood and remembering what it was that you loved when you were little is eye opening. For me, it was singing. I loved to sing, but then comparison crept in (a natural joy zapper) and I had the belief that I wasn’t really very good. Since thoughts and feelings drive our actions, I sang less and less. My result – I limited my experience of joy.
- Commit to actually doing the things that bring you joy. When you create a list of all the things that you love and bring you joy, then you have a choice to bring those into your life. Long ago, I ditched that limiting belief that stopped me from singing! I am often making up silly songs around the house, singing in the car, doing the occasional karaoke, or taking a music break in my day. I intentionally bring in opportunities for me to crank up the tunes and sing along, because that is my joy. It was true when I was young, and it is true today.
Commit to start doing those things little by little every day and watch what happens.
Notice your mood starting to improve.
Notice you begin waking up in the morning and looking forward to your day.
Notice your relationships start improving.
Notice if you experience more frequent states of happiness and contentment.
Notice when the challenges and difficulties of life emerge (as they do), that you are better equipped to handle them and navigate the storm.
For inspiration and suggestions on even more ways to bring more joy into your life, join my free 7-day Joy Challenge. I will give you a simple step-by-step challenge every day to cultivate more joy into your life. This is a win-win: not only will you benefit from your joy, so will everyone around you.
Besides, joy is your nature state of being, so you are ready.
