Accessing Your Inner Joy
I can't say I really remember feeling ecstatic joy when I was a little girl. I remember being sort of sad most of the time. Feeling sad for no reason was not really something I was willing to admit or confess. In my belief system, Jesus was thought to take away sadness and replace it with joy. Feeling sad meant that, for whatever reason, Jesus had chosen to overlook me. This was unacceptable.
Now that I am a bit older, I realize that things are a bit more complicated than my innocent childhood brain understood.
However, I do understand that sometimes we get in a habit of feeling down, and habits can be broken.
Many times we project our happiness and joy into the future, when we hope or dream that something in our life will be different than it is in the present moment. Maybe we think we will be happy when we find a special someone, land that perfect job, retire or take that perfect vacation. The problem is, when we project our joy into the future, that future never seems to arrive. Our joy is always in the future.
Sometimes our joy gets stuck in the past, before some tragedy happened. Life was good until....and now it will never be the same.
It is important to bring our joy into the present moment, no matter what we may feel is less than perfect. If we don't, that piece of ourselves that is missing or stuck in the past or the future will never reunite with our present life experience.
So how do we join ourselves to our sense of joy when our current circumstances are less than ideal?
It is actually fairly easy. We just decide to bring our awareness into the present moment, and remember what it feels like to feel joy. Set aside our worries and stresses just for a bit and decide to feel joy.
Now this only works if you remember what joy feels like. If you can never remember a time in your life when you felt complete and utter joy, then you will have a little more work to do. You may have to pretend until the feeling comes.
You may want to put on some happy music and dance around the living room. Or watch a movie where everyone lives happily ever after. Daydream about what your perfect day looks like, and feels like, and smells like.
This does not mean that you hide your sadness like I did as a child. It does not mean your other emotions are not valid and do not have a place. It means that right now, in this moment, you are accessing that joy that is connected to your soul and you are remembering that. You are daydreaming joy.
What benefits come from accessing your inner joy?
Life just seems to be better. Along with joy comes a sense of being connected to the Divine. Joy brings people into your life who feel good and are happy. When you feel joy you have less tolerance for things that don't feel joyful.
You may even stop blaming life for less than wonderful circumstances. You may stop feeling victimized for things that seem unfair or out of your control. You may be better able to surrender those things that are out of your control to your understanding of The Divine.
That perfect future that has been stuck just out of your reach suddenly seems attainable. And if not, that's okay too.
This does not eliminate the need for inner healing. This does not mean you do not have to work on resolving those difficult traumas or finding peace. This only adds fuel to the fire of healing. It helps speed up the healing process.
Just for today, decide to set aside all of those things that seem to be keeping your from your sense of well-being and decide to do something that feels joyful. Breathe in the breath of joy and hold it inside of your heart. Breathe out joy into your body and into your day. Bless everyone who happens across your path today. Bless the trees and the flowers and the clerk at the grocery store and the driver who just cut you off in traffic. Bless anyone and everything who has seemed to have stolen your joy and suddenly you will realize that no one can really steal your joy. Joy is inside.
Life is good. And so it is.
__________________
I just want to take a moment and thank everyone who has crossed my path in one way or another. You have been a gift to me no matter what the circumstances. I wish you all the happiness and joy you can hold in your body.
You can read my story of my adventure through life, faith, disillusionment, and rediscovery as you discover your own path! My hope is that some aspect of my story or my perspective of my adventures through "woo woo world" will inspire you to live your best life!
If you are interested in booking a private session, you can check out what I offer and book your appointment here!
Just for today, live your best life. Laugh, dance, sing. Leave your sorrows for another day.
Comments