Do you know what brings you joy? How can you cultivate it?
image by: Preslie Hirsch
A dictionary definition of Joy; a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. Do you know where you find your joy? If someone asked you what brings you joy would you be able to list ten things easily? Would you find it challenging? Would you only be able to list a few? This answer may vary from person to person depending on where they are with exploring their inner world and how they experience life itself.
Let’s have a look at how we can discover what really brings us joy and how we can cultivate joy in our lives.
During her twelve years of research Brené Brown, a professor, lecturer and author, discovered people who had a profound ability to experience joy had something unique about themselves. These people had something in common, they felt a deep sense of gratitude when they experienced something really blissful happening to them. She said that she didn’t interview anyone who had described themselves as joyful and who did not actively practice gratitude on a daily basis.
These people chose to be grateful on moment by moment basis. Their practice of daily gratitude is what had invited joy into their lives. Some of these people also had a gratitude journal where they wrote down things that they were grateful for. Others had another method which was saying what they were grateful for out aloud at a set time every day.
“Joy comes to us in moments – ordinary moments. We wish missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.” ~ Brené Brown
When we get busy with all the tasks we need to complete on any given day if we aren’t mindful it is possible to not be present. It is here as Brown says that “we risk missing out on joy when we get too busy…”. Practicing gratitude, mindfulness and self-awareness can assist us in cultivating joy in our lives.
“Joy is vulnerable – that’s why we’re afraid to let ourselves feel it. Don’t squander joyful moments by waiting for joyful moments by waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lean in and practice gratitude.” ~ Brené Brown
Given the current situation around the entire world today, we have time and a chance to take this opportunity to create the habit of gratefulness and in doing so cultivating joy into our lives. I have suggested some activities that could be something you could consider during your time now (or at some later time).
Suggested activities:
Gratitude & Joy
Grab a journal and start observing yourself over the next few weeks and make sure to keep this journal close by. When you catch yourself experiencing a feeling of great pleasure and happiness note it down. Allow space for feeling of joy to stay as long as it wants. Try not to change, stop, fix or suppress it. Feel grateful for the joy that has arrived in your life. You can also choose what works for you, a daily gratitude journal or a set time such as at bedtime to say what you are grateful for in your life. Tune into that space and energy.
Bonus Activity:
Once you get the hang of it you can also start noting experiences that don’t bring you joy. Have a look at what is hidden underneath that, what is it about that experience that you don’t like or are aligned with. Get curious in your own inner world. This experiment enables us to really get to know ourselves on a deeper level. It is here where we can begin to experience life perhaps on a different level.
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