We are all busy in the modern world. We have so many goals and desires to fulfill in our lives and what feels like so little time to accomplish them. We organize and strive for perfection in our daily tasks hoping that the sense of order will bring us peace and some free time, which it usually does. Yet why, when we have the time to sit and relax do we sometimes feel so empty? What is missing that we are forgetting in our carefully crafted lives? The answer is perhaps much more simple than we realize. Joy is what we are missing in our busy lives. What is joy? Joy is that feeling of pure happiness from just something small or maybe nothing at all. It is the feeling you had as a child playing by yourself or walking through the woods. It is the pure and complete being in the current moment and experiencing the miracle that life truly is. The problem with joy though is that as we get older and wiser, as we experience more and experience heartbreak and betrayal it becomes harder to engage with the moment. Past trauma, past disappointments can stand in the way of us being in the moment more often than not, so how do we let go and live a joyful life? While there are no complete cures we can offer four tips for when you find yourself not appreciating your current moment as much as you feel you should be.
1- Start with a Healthy Body and Mind
This may feel like a weird place to start, but without a healthy body and mind we can not move very far. Just like seeds need the right type of soil to grow, our lives need to be cemented in a strong place. Of course we don't need perfection here, if you wait for perfection in your body and mind you will never get to start! But maintaining focus on keeping your body and mind healthy via exercise, proper eating and moderating indulgences in our vices is the foundation you need to start feeling life in a more meaningful way.
2- Be Grateful
If you are having a hard time being joyful, especially during times of COVID-19, start looking at what you have. Chances are if you have the free time and ability to read this article you already have much to be thankful for. Look around at what you have, where you came from and how far you've gone in life. Take time to tell your friends and family how much they mean to you either verbally or through acts of kindness. You can also start a gratitude journal, a new trend that has really taken off lately. To begin a gratitude journal simply start each day with a list of positive things that have happened to you. These do not have to be major things, it can be as simple as the day was sunny or I was able to finish a hard workout today. As you build the habit, you will see your perspective in your life shift in beautiful ways.
3- Maintain Mindfulness
A large part of what will make you joyful is simply being in the present moment. To achieve this, we need to practice mindfulness. We have tons of resources here (https://www.bullionite.com/blog/2020/4/9/introduction-to-mindfulness) to get you started on the journey. To put it simply, mindfulness is letting yourself experience everything as it happens with an open heart and generous spirit, of course this is easier said than done! But with proper daily practice and bringing awareness to yourself when you feel yourself slipping away, you will begin to experience life in a mindful way more and more each day.
4- Be Authentic and Seek Authenticity
A way that we lose our joyfulness and connection to the world is putting up masks. We put up masks everyday, giving people what they want to see and hear. While a certain amount of this is to be expected, in a world where all we are given is what we want to see and we put out is what we think others want, it can get lonely pretty fast. Break the cycle by offering yourself to your loved ones without the shield. Open up and talk about things that may scare you or make you uncomfortable. When we drop our shields it encourages others to do the same. With more authentic encounters we can start to feel the joy from venerability and the connections it brings. This is because vulnerability brings connections. You may not realize it, but most people around you are just as lonely and crave just as much connection but also are putting up shields. We are all afraid of exposing ourselves or being “too much” but when you start revealing your true feelings it will let these barriers melt away and allow for more meaningful and joyful encounters.
Becoming more joyful isn't an overnight thing nor does it have a linear path. There may be good days and bad days and moments that will cause sudden upheavals for you. While this is always true, it is especially true in the days of the pandemic where we are so unsure of what the future holds. While the uncertainty of the future is ever present, we don't need to allow for that uncertainty to cause us to live our present in foreboding. Be in the moment and experience life a little more like you did as a child, before the world took some of your innocence away. It can be a slow but rewarding journey.
When was the last time you felt joyful? How do you try to bring joy in your life? Reach out to us at info@bullionite.com with your comments or questions and visit our blog https://www.bullionite.com/blog-index for more articles.