Joy

I bet if you ask people all over the world what they want most in life, or better yet, what they want for their children, most will say, “to be happy.” Here’s the thing with happiness — it’s fantastic, it feels really good, and it is more than welcome in my life anytime it makes an appearance, but it kind of has this stagnant, singular, uni-dimensional quality.

“…the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy is a liquid.” — J.D. Salinger

So, maybe it would serve us to release the happiness goal which doesn’t really take into account the unpredictability, inevitable shifting, natural ebbs and flows of life, and instead place our attention on cultivating joy.

“Happiness is like rising bubbles — delightful and inevitably fleeting. Joy is the oxygen — ever present.” — Danielle LaPorte

Here’s what I find works: Living with gratitude in the present moment.

That’s it.

Do I remember and practice this all the time? Nope. Am I more joyful when I do? Yep. Is it way easier to do some days than others? For sure! Even on our most challenging days when it feels tough to be present and grateful, we have this, and this never changes: Your value is inherent. Being loved, knowing love is your birthright. I’d say that’s reason to rejoice and a pretty good place to start in cultivating gratitude.

Because isn’t that what we all want more than anything else anyway? What we’re all searching for? What we think happiness equates? To be loved? To be valued?

Well, the thing is you already are! You can stop searching for things to make you whole because you already are.

“As water takes the shape of its container, the mind when it contemplates an object is transformed into the shape of that object.” — BKS Iyengar

When we contemplate and give energy to that for which we are grateful, we cultivate gratitude and joy. Want to change your life and watch your joy multiply exponentially? Try this: Pause 3 times each day, and in that pause note (if you can write it down, even better) 3 things that are going right or things for which you feel grateful in that very moment. “Life-changing” is a lofty claim…this simple practice is nothing short of life-changing.