JOY - It's Not Just for Christmas Anymore

I've been musing on JOY lately.As I connect with so many women in and around my day to day world, I'm finding out that many of do not even remember the concept of what JOY is anymore.

Joy is not in things; it is in us. ~Richard Wagner

When asking 'When was the last time you experienced real joy in your life', many sent me messages that included,

- 'Joy, what's joy?'

- 'I think it's something you feel for a moment on Christmas morning right?'

- 'My children experience and offer me joy every day'.

- 'Joy isn't realistic'

- 'You need to make joy in your life each day, it doesn't just make itself'.

What comes to your mind when you ponder the idea of JOY in your life? Is it just an idea? Do you experience it at all? And do you look for joy in your life?

I'm pondering this idea of how when we purposefully choose to look for certain things in our life, does this mean we find it, experience it, control our lives more because of it?

AND CAN WE LIVE WITHOUT JOY??

So many people today believe that the idea of joy is over rated or that it's too dramatic or emotional a feeling to have. I can't help but wonder how this works as we live to simply be satified. At what point does being satisfied just not cut it?

There could be a balance between the two. That when we simplify our life, remove the clutter that holds us back in the many forms, we can then have the sight, the capacity to find joy that is waiting to be discovered in and all around our lives. Because more and more today we fill every moment of our lives with the tasks at hand, the financial commitments that take front and centre of our hours, zoning out in front of the television, running to and from the demands of all the commitments we make in our schedules...it seems never ending. What are we living for? What are we living towards?

Practicing the act of experiencing joy in our life each can

- increase our capacity for everything we hold in our lives

- improve our relationships

- decrease our level of stress

- improve our overall health

- improve your overall happiness

- increase your ability to laugh

- create more of a positive outlook on life

And I'm sure we can think of more.

So today, I'm challenging you to consider looking for joy in your life. It really is all around you, just waiting to be discovered and held, experienced and lived out.

“Joy is the feeling of grinning inside.” ~Melba Colgrove

DEFINITIONS OF "JOY"

rejoice: feel happiness or joy

the emotion of great happiness

gladden: make glad or happy

something or someone that provides a source of happiness; "a joy to behold"; "the pleasure of his company"; "the new car is a delight"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

1.

a. Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness.

b. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.

2. A source or an object of pleasure or satisfaction: their only child, their pride and joy.

v. joyed, joy·ing, joys

v.intr.

To take great pleasure; rejoice.

v.tr. Archaic

1. To fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.

2. To enjoy.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/joy