Doses of Joy

a source or cause of delight

We are a society of productivity. Of busy. We’ve all heard the saying ‘work hard, play hard’ and ‘laughter is the best medicine’, but how often do we really talk about joy?

When is the last time you were the source of joy for yourself?

I don’t know about you, but I can experience joy in just a moment and it’s often the small things that bring me the most joy. However, I don’t often hear people talk about bringing themselves joy. We talk a lot about taking care of other people, concern for how other people are doing. I suggest that you start with yourself.

Investing energy in causing joy for yourself will have a subtle, yet profound impact on your life. It starts to shift your thought patterns and relationship to the world around you.

Give yourself a dose of joy on a regular basis.

Define your Joy-Makers.

Make a long list of things that bring you joy, that cause delight.

My list includes things like:

• the smell of rain on a warm day
• the feeling of a rose petal between my fingers
• a hug from Mom
• my favorite song on the radio
• knitting
• watching my best friend laugh
• cuddling a puppy
• a good pun
• sand between my toes at the beach
• a good stretch

Notice some of these things are super simple and take very little time.

Do a Joy-Maker a week.

Set up a reminder for yourself to take a few minutes each week and do one of the things from your list. If you really want to dive into this, go crazy and do one a day.

I don’t know who invented this exercise, I just know it works to slowly, but deeply shift your perspective. Mark Manson, wrote an article called Screw Finding Your Passion, in it he suggests that we don’t need to ‘find our passion’ we already have it we’re just choosing to ignore it, judging it as unproductive or finding excuses to avoid it.

I believe that remembering what your passion is begins with rediscovering and experiencing joy.

Try it for yourself and let me know what you discover!