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In the hustle and bustle of life, we lose track of the things that make it worth living. It seems that our culture has been so busy trying to get ahead, that we have become numb to the feeling of joy. Joy is all around us, we just haven't noticed it, our minds our too preoccupied with other things. Here are seven steps that will help to take the numbness away, to give feeling back to our joy muscles.
1. Be Grateful.
Just for fun, spend a week counting how many times you get to say thank you, or feel grateful. It will amaze you. We don't pay attention to the small things. For some reason we think it is in the big things that gratitude happens. For one week pay attention to detail. Gratitude happens in the details- the absolute bliss of wrapping yourself in a warm towel after a bath, the conversation that you had in the grocery store, that moment just before you fall off to sleep, the fabulous meal you ate that day. The list could go on and on. Take delight in the small things. This will attract more joy into your life.
2. Treat yourself with the Highest of Regard.
You are at least as important as everyone in your environments. Take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise and get some sleep.
It sounds so simple, but we do tend to put our needs at the bottom of the list. Take time to look at places in your life that you can change that. You might have to learn to say no more often.
You matter! Don't loose sight of that – you matter!
3. Go within.
Take time every day to connect with the Universe. Silence really is golden. Meditation does work. If you can quiet your mind, for even five minutes a day you will experience a sense of calmness. The struggles and inner conflicts around your goals will dissipate. Letting go of the stress is mandatory for making room in your life for joy.
Throughout your day….breathe… focus on your breath. This is a quick fix for stress.
4. Acknowledge yourself.
Congratulate yourself on your wins and accomplishments. Do you have a to do list? Instead of looking at all of the things that didn't get crossed off of it in a day, look at all the things that did.
Acknowledge yourself for the intangibles too. Did you take ownership for your choices today? Bravo! Did you communicate well? Yahoo. Did you laugh out loud today? Did you focus on your goal rather than the things that get in the way of your goal? Bravo!
5. Eliminate Tolerations.
Tolerations are circumstances or conditions that drain us of our energy. Simply put, they are things that bug us, but we continue to put up with them. They can range from a dripping faucet to an intolerable work environment. Some tolerations can be fixed – quite easily in fact, but we let them lay there. Take time to eliminate the small tolerations from your life. Tolerations cost you. A leaky faucet will take up brain space, fix it and you will have more room for joy in your mind. Clutter makes you feel closed in and unorganized, it can waste time. Get organized, put things away. Having a sense of space in your physical environment will help to create a sense of space in your intangible environment. This is where joy lives.
6. Stay Connected
We tend to forget to spend time with the people who support us or love us. Stay connected with people who make you smile. It adds pleasure to life. Take time for conversations with people that we admire. There is much joy here. Sometimes you have to let the shoulds go to make the time. This will add depth to your life. Take time also, to connect with people you don't know. Smile at the person passing you on the street, chat in the grocery line up.
Healthy relationships will enhance the level of joy in your life.
Sometimes in order to stay connected we have to create boundaries for ourselves. That's okay. By creating boundaries we let people know who we are and what we will accept. This simple step will do wonders in helping you attract like- minded people in your lives, it will also help you to ascertain whether or not some of the people in your lives should go. This will free up more space for joy.
7. Every day spend time doing things that you are good at. I call it a Right Room experience. By spending time doing things that you are good at, you become more confident.
We tend to spend a lot of time trying to get better at a whole bunch of things we are not good at. While, I realize that this is sometimes necessary, it is a lot easier to tackle the challenges when you carry confidence with you. That feeling of constant inadequacy will fade.
(A hint) Usually the things we are good at are things that we love and are passionate about. Don't disregard these gifts, they can inspire you, and inspiration is a wonderful way to keep the joy alive.
Think of Joy as a "come from". What would your life look like if you made a commitment to come from a place of Joy? What kind of choices would you make? How would your world change if you made room in your life for Joy?
These seven steps are not meant to be used linearly, although you can do it that way if you choose. They are simply small steps towards a richer life. Use them, play with them and above all enjoy them.
I wish you all much Joy!
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