How Do You Make Joy In Your Life?
What does Make It Joy mean?
Is this a life of happiness and everyday smiles?
No.
Not quite.
Life Is Joy. And Not.
First, no matter what or how we do life, life will still be life. And life gets to lifin’ and brings good, bad, super good, super bad, confusing, annoying, surprising, generous, beautiful, fun…and… about a zillion other things.
It’s always moving, works in waves, and has a predictable unpredictability to it.
Good ole, sassy life. She’s a wild one.
So, no.
To “make it joy” doesn’t mean to reside on clouded bliss every hour.
Instead, creating joy in your life comes first from understanding the gratification and volatility that comes with being alive. And accepting that that’s part of the ride.
Buckle up.
To live with joy is to take that knowledge, and choose attention and intention that sets the path to deep satisfaction.
This deep satisfaction can exist long-term, for short stints, or even just in moments.
How And When Can We Find Joy?
Making joy in our lives has much more to do with what’s happening inside of us than what’s going on in the ever-changing world.
Long-Term Joy
We can have joy long-term? How so?
You can find your joy by making choices that feel in tune with who you are and how you’re made.
Using your gifts and talents in a way that feels right
Feeling purposeful with your work or home
Investing in high-quality relationships
Connecting with God and pursuing peace in your soul
Ya know, that kind of stuff.
Your long-term happiness relies quite a bit on the choices you make. These choices are intentionally made to develop the lifestyle, environment, relationships, and attitude that suits your inner being.
Short-Term Joy
What’s the short-term joy?
This tends to be more of the pursuit of pleasure, adventure, peace, and fun with an expected expiration.
Traveling (which certainly includes all of the time before the trip and during. The anticipation is so much of the fun!)
A family gathering with loved ones you enjoy
A sabbatical to relax and research exactly what you want
Your short-term happiness can come from opportunities that you choose to make the most of and appreciate.
Joy In The Moment
We can find fulfillment and joy in moments? Do tell.
We can live joyfully through moments when we give ourselves fully to NOW.
When we practice focusing all of our attention on the present, we nurture joy in our lives.
This takes getting in touch with our senses and actively looking to find the spectacular in simplicity.
Enjoying the beauty of a sunrise against the mountains
Belly laughing from a witty remark
Snuggling up in freshly washed bedsheets
Listening to “Mellow Spanish Guitar” on Spotify in the evening, by the fireplace, in an otherwise quiet house, with a Siamese cat, and fluffy slippers, while drinking Shiraz, and tasting a chocolate torte with a raspberry coulis and whipped cream— pardon me, I’m projecting my joy.
Soaking up the wonder of NOW is essential to being joyful.
Making it joy in the moment requires our full attention. The degree to which we give our mind, energy, and senses directly impacts our pleasure and how we experience the world.
Giving our attention to now and our intention to our choices is a key element to living joyfully.
There’s a brief nod to our how and when of joyful living. Let’s dig in deeper to the what.
What Is Deep Satisfaction?
Here we go:
Deep satisfaction lives in our innermost being, eagerly searching to be met. We’re all driven by this desire to be well pleased.
The origin can be external or internal, but the feeling of rest and contentment makes home in our hearts… or is our souls?
That’s just semantics, I guess. It’s the place deep within us that IS us.
Our essence.
That’s all pretty esoteric.
Let’s make this simple, shall we?
What Does Joy Look Like?
- Easy laughter, easy smiles
- Open
- A face and eyes that fill with light
- Enjoying yourself
- Free
- Savoring the moment
- Revelling in simple things
- Friendly
What Does Joy Feel Like?
- Full
- Like your heart and body are expanded
- In tune
- Open
- Warm, like your heart is a pie that’s just come out of the oven
- Peaceful
- Like your soul just a full meal and has no room or need for more
- Calm and excited at the same time
- Like your insides are at rest and don’t have to rush or worry
- Awake
- Like your spirit is doing cartwheels and skipping around on a playground
- Enthusiastic
- Grounded and sure of who you are
- Loved
What Does Joy Not Feel Like?
- Afraid
- Small, like others are more or bigger than you
- Jumpy
- Like you have to rush or strive to make things happen for yourself
- Timid and self-conscious
- Self-absorbed or selfish
- Angry or irritable at yourself or others.
- Mean-spirited or rude
- Worried
- Unsettled or rattled
- Quick-tempered
- Apathetic
- Uninspired
- Dull, like Life is just passing you by and you’re floating along
Embrace Joy
Your joy will feel different from my joy. It’ll feel a little different for all of us. But we’ve all got our markers for when we’re living in our sweet spot.
What does it feel like for you when you’re in joy? When you’re fully, deeply satisfied?
(*That’s not rhetorical. Take a second and think about it.)
Deep satisfaction will also feel different depending on which joy you’re experiencing: long-term, short-term, or momentary.
It’s unusual to sustain high-energy joy when it comes to long-term choices.
When you find the job that’s the perfect fit for you and your purpose, you’ll feel excitement, enthusiasm, and a big wahoo when you first find it. And that may stay, but more likely, you’ll feel that occasionally and be sustained by a sense of deep satisfaction you have regularly.
Joy for the long haul usually feels more like peace and contentment. It’s like your soul has a knowing, pleasant smile. It’s a nice, rich feeling.
The same goes for momentary or short-term joy. The sensations, emotions, and thoughts that come up might have a higher, quicker energy.
Whatever shape it takes, it feels good. It feels passionate, alive, and fulfilling.
Pay Attention To Feeling Unsettled
Joy doesn’t feel like anger, pain, smallness, and the like.
If you have those feelings or feelings of unease, that’s important information!
It’s nothing to hush or try to escape from. When you feel those “not joys,” that’s your go-to indicator that you gotta get to looking at things. Look at you. Your life. What’s off?
The signals of “not joy” or “not peace” are GOLD.
Embrace them, be thankful for them, and most importantly investigate them. And once you investigate them, get busy changing what’s keeping you from the deep satisfaction you’re made for.
Now Go Find Your Joy!
Make It Joy doesn’t mean living an easy life, having great fortune, or escaping troubles.
Making it joy, is moving through your life lit up on the inside. You walk with freedom, openness, love, and a sense of humor.
You willfully experience life with purpose and seek moments to enjoy to the absolute maximum.
You seek goodness.
In all the ways it can come to you and in all the ways it can be shared.
