You know those moments when nothing special is happening.
Maybe you wake up early one morning to the sounds of birds tweeting outside the window. Or maybe the hum of traffic in the distance.
And you find yourself with a smile spread across your face – no particular reason.
You’re probably not thinking – but you’re aware that you just feel an ease in your body that wasn’t there before, you feel lighter.
Babysitting my Grand puppy Athena has given me so many moments like that the last couple weeks. But, yesterdays moment had me really thinking about how to deliberately create more of them.
Athena is so present to every moment, and when I stop what I’m doing, and share those moments with her, I find I’m always smiling.
This morning on our early morning walk she found just an ordinary stick and for whatever reason it sent her into a rhapsody of delight.
I wasn’t required to chase or participate (she has a bevy of invisible playmates, it seems) and after a few minutes watching her romp and race around the field with the stick I just sat down to watch.
The plot line of my life dissolved and there I was without the responsibility of playing the lead in my own Fascinating Story for a while. My dramas, worries, aspirations, hopes and fears dissolved before my eyes.
It was so noticeably one of those beautiful moments when the weight of “having to be doing something” disappeared.
Life was SO sweet!
I think our difficulty in accessing these kinds of happiness moments lies in great part right there! We are usually preoccupied DOING something useful or necessary, we’re onto the next “thing” without realising it.
Our mind is always concerned with outcomes in mind rather than being open to the moment, which when we allow ourselves – can be delightful.
I wonder sometimes if we imagine we’ll only get to heaven if we stay busy – and that if we have too good a time we’ll be shunted off “downstairs”?
Just a thought.
Taking a Chance on your Own Joy and Happiness
1. Appreciate what you have
Consider the gifts in your life are wrapped in beauty and hidden delicately between the seconds of your life. So stop for a few minutes throughout the day and see what you notice.
2. Limit your time with negative people.
Protect your spirit and potential by limiting your time with negative people. They drain our spirits and tire us, and when we’re tired fun and joy seem far out of reach.
3. Love yourself and your body enough to take care of it.
You’re the one you’ve been waiting for, and You’re beautiful. You have the body you have, you are always in it, so you might as well take care of it and learn to love it.
4. What did you do for fun as a child?
An obvious one for me is reading. I LOVED stories about Princesses, and Fairies and Elves, just remembering brings a smile of happiness.
I still love reading, but have to remember to get books for fun and not just study.
5. Get Creative find a hobby
Hobbies provide us with solace and rejuvenation. They open the Imagination, and Invigorate the Soul and especially during hard times and stress. Being able to “lose” yourself in time, heightens mood, and opens us to possibilities we may not think of otherwise.
6. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison
Comparison in almost all cases is deadly and will fell your confidence in a single heartbeat. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself, and ask yourself where could you be better?.
Joy and Happiness abound when we begin to Live by choice and not by chance.
• Make changes, not excuses.
• Become motivated, not manipulated.
• Work to excel, not compete.
• Listen to our own inner voice, not the jumbled opinions of everyone else.
This is the way to inspire your heart to open up to joy. This is how you can grow into the best version of YOU!
WORK WITH ME
Are you ready to make this year, the one where you intentionally make better and more empowered choices for yourself? To risk more, to be wiser, more committed to changing your life for the better?
Would you love some support and accountability to start accomplishing more of what you say you want to do, and you’d love some guidance for where to begin?
Let’s just talk and see how we can work together, and get you clear, confident and back in the Game! Just GET IN TOUCH with me here, I’d be delighted to talk to you.
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