The Art of Joy

 7 Things I know about Finding your Joy

1 | You should know what joy is first. It’s not a choice; it’s a journey. It’s the prize of the journey you are living in. Everyone is in a different place in that journey. 
Joy is a mile deep and a mile wide. Happiness is an inch deep and a mile wide. Happiness scratches the surface compared to joy.  I think joy is just simply infinite, and it’s something that can serve other people. It’s contagious and long-lasting, whereas happiness is temporary. The difference between happiness and joy, probably the most critical difference, is that happiness can be taken away. 

2 | Happiness depends on external factors. Some of those factors you can’t control. Joy is permanent and built from within. I like to say that when you have joy, you don’t need anything else. Everything else is a bonus. When you’re living a life where external material things or external circumstances become a bonus, life is just a lot more fun. It’s a lot more relaxed. 

3 | Where your focus goes, energy flows. By focusing on your path, you will get your path today! You have to focus on the opportunities and the anticipation of tomorrow. And that’s exciting, especially when you can apply faith, right! And living by faith and not by sight becomes a little bit of a game. Life becomes a fun little game instead of the battle that I was calling it.

If you feel stuck, the key is to understand that saying I am stuck is the same thing as saying I am afraid. Ask yourself a better question.

4 | A strategy I practice is gratitude on the daily.

5 |  Balance is a myth. The number one antidote to all the stress is to put yourself first. I give you permission to put yourself first. It’s ok. It’s like on the airplane. They don’t say put your mask on all your kids and your grandmother and your mother and your husband and then put yours on!

They say to put your mask on first because if you don’t have oxygen, you are no good to anybody. So you have to put the oxygen mask on, like it’s your fuel tank, like you are your number one priority. And over time, your family will start to see that that’s what you’re doing, that you need to put your mask on. But nobody’s going to come put it on your face. Nobody’s going to go here. You look a little low off oxygen. Let me give you mine. That’s just not going to happen, especially for women. So, I would just say I give you permission to put yourself first. I think a lot of women just need someone to say, “Hey honey, it’s okay to just put your oxygen mask on.”

6 | Set boundaries. I am very careful about who I surround myself with. Guard the door of your mind.  That includes the news, movies. Starve those lower emotions.

7 | Decide to not live in the past. That is the key. One of the key components of joy is that joy is in the present moment and in the future. It’s not in the past. There was a moment I decided, and I do that even now. I don’t live in yesterday. I don’t live in three months ago. I live in today. Like right now in this beautiful present moment where my heart’s beating; I’m breathing; I’m talking to you. I’m just in the moment. I did it, I had to out of survival because if I kept defining myself by my past moment, then I would be still be that person.

If you are interested in expanding your joy, meet me here.

“Joy is every minute of every day.” | Jolynn

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