Ibelieve that true joy exists in moments of peaceful, contented happiness.
One example of this for me is when I open the curtains in the morning and see a beautiful sunrise. A warm, all consuming feeling of happiness fills me as I take in the beauty of the sky.
Another is when I stand in line at the supermarket and make eye contact with a young child who suddenly waves, says hello or smiles at me, and my outlook on the entire situation of waiting in the long line has completely changed because of that simple, yet beautiful, interaction.
Creating Moments of Joy
Say thank you.
Take the time to express your thanks and gratitude to those around you, and do it often. Saying thank you in person, by phone or by text/email will bring such an enormous boost of joy… to both the person you are thanking and to yourself. Give it a try! You’ll be so happy you did.
Take a walk in nature.
Getting out of the house or away from work and heading to the park, around the block, or on a hike in a forested area to experience the sights, sounds and smells will do you a world of good. The fresh air and exercise changes our perspectives and brings us a new appreciation for so many things. I love the saying “walk yourself out of your bad mood”, and can honestly say that it has worked for me!
Find beauty in the small things all around you.
Take a moment to slow down, stop the repetitive tasks in your every day and notice even the smallest of things all around you. Quite literally stopping to smell the flowers, listening to the words of a favorite song, or watching butterflies dancing outside of your window… all of these things will reconnect you with joy in ways you may have forgotten. Allow theses experiences and the gratitude you have for them to enhance your day!.
Be okay with letting go of other peoples expectations of you.
Once you learn to accept that it doesn’t matter what others think about you, your life becomes yours again and you easily find peace. You are exactly where you are meant to be, and doing exactly what you are meant to be doing, regardless of what others expectations of you are.
Choose yourself.
Start everyday with a recognizing and embracing the attitude that your own peace, happiness and healthy state of mind matter more than everything else. Give yourself the gift of your time, along with being patient with yourself. We do this for others, often forgetting to do the same for ourselves. Once focused on giving ourselves grace, finding joy in life comes easily.
Embrace, Forgive and Live Life
Embracing imperfection is perfectly perfect.
Learning to fully embrace this mindset takes a strong will, but you can do it! In our current world of social media where snapshots and stories of the moments of peoples ‘perfect lives’ are displayed, and in the world of entertainment where perfect body images are often at the forefront, it is easy to believe that perfection exists everywhere around us. This is unrealistic and an example of being given only a snapshot into a moment in time; not the whole story. It’s good to recognize that your life, as with the lives of all of those around you, is imperfectly perfect (regardless of what is displayed on social media).
Forgive yourself.
Mistakes help us learn to be better people, and the feeling of guilt means we are already healing from the mistake we know we made. Guilt is a built-in indicator that we are experiencing a conflict within our value and belief system. If you’ve messed up, owning up to the mistake is key to moving forward followed closely with apologizing to anyone you’ve hurt. Next it’s time to forgive yourself — write yourself an apology — and be kind to yourself as you write this, remembering that this mistake doesn’t define you. Self forgiveness for past missteps is a crucial component in easily finding joy in life.
Live life in the present tense.
My brother once told me of this… “the windshield of your vehicle is bigger than the rear view mirror for a good reason”. Living in the present moment and looking ahead with excited anticipation of the future is important… checking the rear view mirror now and again to remind ourselves where we have been is also good, but it’s not a place to spend all of our time or we will miss what is happening right in front of us. That stays with me, and I am thankful for the lesson. So take a deep breath, look straight into today and love the day you have presently in front of you. Every moment counts, so make today the very best it can be.
I’m a proud mom, a friend to many, and have a profound belief in human kindness.
My goal to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life includes my love to write about things that resonate with me. My gift to you is sharing my perspective on living a happy life.
xx
