How to Live With More Joy In Your Life
There are three powerful mindsets we can apply to our everyday lives that will give us more joy in what we do. Using a few personal examples and lessons I’ve learned along the way I want to share how you can use these mindsets to get more joy in your life.
Photo by Matthew Hamilton on Unsplash
Mindset 1: Acceptance
There are lots of things we don’t enjoy doing, but what’s important to understand is that accepting it for what it is allows us to have a better attitude and be at peace with the stuff we may not like to do.
Let me give you a personal example.
My daily carpool routine. I take my kids to school and pick them up each day. Dropping them off is fine, but picking them up adds an hour to my commute. Do I enjoy it, “hell no” but instead of being pissed off about it all the time or getting angry I have learned to accept it. It is what it is.
This attitude of acceptance has centered me when I start to complain. Learning to do something willingly is much less stressful than being in a state of frustration.
Lesson: If you can’t accept whatever it is that you are doing and be at peace with it, you need to stop that thing. Otherwise whatever you can’t accept will only result in frustration, anger or resentment and take the possibility of joy away.
Mindset 2: Enjoyment
When do you feel most alive in your work? Got an example? Mine is when I work in my garage. This time of year (the week between Christmas and New Year) always brings down time. I specifically wait to complete projects so I can do it during this week. My projects usually involve painting furniture or creating new boho inspired wall art. Whatever it is, I look forward to the quiet alone time.
Lesson: What I’ve learned over the last few years is that it’s not ‘the doing’ that brings me joy. Rather, it’s the feeling that flows into the work. It’s a feeling of connection and aliveness and it flows freely when I am enjoying my projects.
“Joy doesn’t come from what you do. It flows into what you do.”
Attitude 3: Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm comes when we have deep enjoyment for what we do. I am sure you and I can come up with a list of things we are enthusiastic about. When we couple enthusiasm with personal goals an amazing thing happens. It gives birth to creativity. This creativity is what Elizabeth Gilbert calls “Big Magic” and it’s when creative energy and ideas begin to flow. It’s an energy that keeps us inspired and moving closer to our goals.
““Living a creative life is where the Big Magic will always abide.” ”
Lesson: Enthusiasm has an ebb and flow to it. We can’t always live with enthusiasm. The key is to find the things we enjoy doing because when that Big Magic happens and we get a wave of creative ideas we get swept up in enthusiasm and as a benefit we’re empowered by our own creative genius.
Living with more joy in your life is fully in your reach.
You can make it happen when learn to accept what is, enjoy being in the flow, and be empowered through enthusiasm.
Now that you know these three important mindsets I want to support you as you work towards being at peace with everyday tasks, learning to recognize the feeling of living in the flow, setting goals that bring you joy, and living a life that is fulfilling and radiates joy.
References: Eckhart Tolle A New Earth & UpLifeConnect.org