Joy and happiness.

What causes joy? Can you make yourself happy? 

JOY manifests from knowing who you are, making peace with that, and your purpose here.

HAPPINESS comes in all forms, and it arises by something good happening to us or around us.

Joy and happiness, intertwined, are essential for a healthy lifestyle and a healthy journey. Below are five things to remember for more joy and happiness throughout your day-to-day!

THE CHASE & STEPPING OFF OF THE HEDONIC TREADMILL

Chasing happiness. We all go through this chase. Chasing after the next thing and the next, and once we get it, we believe, “surely we’ll be happy then.”

It’s time to get off of the hedonic treadmill.

For a week, try to mute social media accounts that make you feel ‘jealous’ or FOMO. Instead, try activities that bring personal joy, like creating or reading.

Being present and experiencing life that’s currently happening before you, can benefit your peace and joy. Overall, the joy is in the journey, and what you have control over is the now and how you choose to live within it.

Find a new activity. Eat some new foods. Verbally count your blessings. Embrace and surround yourself with friends who are uplifting! These seeds of happy nourish your joy.

I want to share this quote from Sandra Bullock (actress/producer)! She once said to a group of young people:

“Go find your joy. Whatever that is, go find your joy. Are you going to have a good day or are you going to have a great day, because it’s completely up to you. It’s what you’re going to remember in the end. You’re not going to remember how you worried. You’re not going to remember the what ifs or the whys or who wronged you. It’s the joy that stays with you…”

It’s the joy that stays with you.

GRATITUDE FOR THE NOW

“Gratitude for where you are, not where you hope to be, is the best virtue to practice on your quest for change. You are here, now. You have, thank goodness, been given all that you need for today…” – Erin Loechner (from her book: Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path)

Practice gratitude. In doing so, you open yourself up to all of the positivity within your life. You open yourself up to see and recognize all that you already have, all that you are, and that it’s all enough, for now.

Through practicing gratitude, you’ll begin to become more aware of the grace that’s upon your life and become more present. Being more present, then, allows you to experience all the beauty that surrounds you, including the joy that you already have within you!

CONNECTION TO WHO YOU ARE

Stay connected to who you are, stay connected.

“Happiness is an emotional response to an outcome  — happiness demands a certain outcome, it is result reliant. If happiness is what you’re after, then you are going to be let down frequently and be unhappy much of your time. Joy, though, is something else. It’s not a choice, not a response to some result, it is a constant. Joy is ‘the feeling we have from doing what we are fashioned to do,’ no matter the outcome. Joy is always in process. It’s in the constant approach, alive and well — in the doing of what we are fashioned to do…” – Matthew McConaughey (actor/producer/writer)

Stay connected to who you are.

REMEMBER THE GOOD

“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy…” – Psalm 126:3

This is my daily mantra, a personal reminder. It’s embedded in my heart and in my mind. No matter how bad things may seem, I always try to remember this scripture. It helps me, soothes me. It reminds me where my joy resides, where it comes from and that it lives within me.

THE INEVITABLE HARDSHIPS

There will be trials and suffering. Of course, there will be times when you don’t want to get out of bed or face your problems. 

I want to encourage you to know that after every storm, the clouds clear. They clear. And the sun breaks through.

But even during the trials, during the suffering, during the hardships, you can hold on to who you are... and know that you will come out of it. Stay connected to yourself, to what you know to be true, regardless. 

It may take some time, but don’t forget who you are in the process. 

Always make sure you’re okay in the joy department. It takes time to tap into it and to learn how to hold on to it. You know the good old saying, “Don’t let anyone steal your joy!” Yep. Don’t let anyone take that away from you. And capture moments of happy along the way.

“My wish for you is joy. When you wish someone joy, you wish peace, love, prosperity, health, happiness… all the good things…” – Maya Angelou

All the good things… 

Believing in your victory!

– Jess

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