“Joy is not in things; it is in us.”- Richard Wagner
Joy is a primary emotion. Think of babies (or puppies). Most of the time, they are pretty joyful without needing anything special, except for their basic needs to be met. That joy exists within each & every one of us. We don’t need a fancy car or some external pleasure to be joyful. We only need to learn to access the joy already within us. It may seem too good to be true – but it is possible and it becomes easier and easier with practice. Give it a try, you may like your results!
Here are 7 steps to unlock your inner JOY!
#1 – LET GO
Everything that you are holding on to, that you are trying to control, that you are struggling with, is keeping you from your joy. Stop trying so hard to make something a certain way. Let go of your preconceived expectations. Let go of your worries about the outcome. Let go of perfection. When we let go, we create space for joy to enter. Joy will come when we allow it to.
“To let go is to release the images and emotions, the grudges and fears, the clingings and disappointments of the past that bind our spirit”. – Jack Kornfield
#2 – OPEN TO POSSIBILITY
“The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach, is Joy.”- Fra Giovanni
Don’t shut joy out before it’s even had a chance to appear. Often we close the door on possibilities – we’re afraid of disappointment, we’ve had a bad experience in the past & expect it to repeat – Whatever the reason, we make a decision about a situation or outcome before it’s even happened. Open your mind. Open your heart. Open to the infinite possibilities that abound! Try really hard on this one to be very open, notice where you are resisting and deliberately do the opposite. Get rid of the word “BUT” & see what happens. You may be delighted by the possibilities you had never before allowed yourself to dream of.
#3 – FORGIVE
Grievances with others (and with ourselves) are like a dam in the natural river of joy. The more grievances we pile on, the less our joy can flow. Begin dismantling the dam with forgiveness. When we forgive, we let go of the harmful grievances we’ve been holding on to. We allow compassion to enter & feel the freedom that comes with forgiving ourselves & others. Forgiving can be challenging, but well worth it! It, too, gets easier with practice.
“Forgiving is rediscovering the shining path of peace that at first you thought others took away when they betrayed you.” – Dodinsky
#4 – BE YOURSELF, LOVE YOURSELF
You are worthy of JOY. You are worthy of Love. You are worthy of all of the good things in life, just because you are you. You don’t need to do anything else. You only need to be yourself – your truest, most authentic, real self. The one you are meant to be and don’t have to struggle to try to be. The perfect one that you were born. It is your right to be happy, just as it is each & every other soul on this Earth’s right to be happy. And we all can be. Your happiness does not take away from another’s happiness. There is enough JOY to go around. So be sure to take your share! Give yourself the gift of your joy. Don’t believe that you need to earn it, or prove something for it. It is already yours. You need only allow it. Give yourself your love & with it you’ll find joy.
#5 – BE GRATEFUL
There is so much to be grateful for, yet sometimes we still forget! We think about that which is missing, what we wish were different. We focus our attention on everything that’s “wrong” or needs “fixing”. Where’s the joy in that? There isn’t any. Look to what is GOOD, look to what is right, look to what you love. Be so grateful for it! When we connect with gratitude, Joy cannot help but rise!
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing & appreciating what we do have.” – Frederick Keonig
#6 – CONNECT
“True joy results when we become aware of our connectedness to everything.”- Paul Pearsall
There is no feeling quite so joyful as LOVE with another. Even kindness, connection with another, brings us in touch with the underlying presence and power of LOVE. We humans long for connection – connection with each other, connection with nature, connection with our Selves, with the present moment. Connection brings joy. Connect with someone or with something that you love & joy will rise. Or perhaps, even just recognizing that we are, in fact, ALL connected is enough to bring joy forward. Stop and take a moment to realize this truth. We are all in this together. We are all made up of the same stuff, the same molecules, same energy. We are one. There’s a peace in realizing this and a sense of instant connection to everything around you – a joyful harmony.
#7 – TAKE ACTION
Get out of your head & into the present! Suffering often exists only in the mind. In our thoughts, worries or stories that we tell ourselves. Although brilliant, our minds can sometimes get us so caught up in endless thoughts that we forget to notice the joy that naturally exists in the present moment. One surefire way to connect with the present is to TAKE ACTION. Rather than spending all of your time & energy in your brain, take some type of action instead. This will bring you back into the present & back into your joy. Need a little help with taking action? Check out our upcoming workshops.
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”- Greg Anderson
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