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joy Tag

Steering your Ship

Steering your ship means guiding your life in the way you would like it to go. There are so many opportunities each day to connect with many different types of people and experiences. Which ones do you choose? All experiences are ultimately good and will bring you to a new understanding of who you are, but getting still and listening to the voice within will help guide you towards your most joyful choices. Get connected and use that knowledge to steer your ship. Create the life that is right for you.  ...

Reflections: Patience

Having patience can be so hard in healing, and so important. Trust that your time will come, and that your healing will come. Whatever it is that you’re waiting for, let yourself sit with it. Don’t distract yourself with substances and chemicals and shows and Twitter – let yourself sit and be. Whatever it is that you’re waiting for will come. If you could see from above, you would see how everything is interconnected and happening at the right time. I’ve had to learn to be patient, and when I could not see how things would ever work out, somehow they worked out just perfectly, eventually. Wishing you patience today.  ...

Doing What Makes You Happy

Move towards those things that bring you happiness. What brings a smile to your face? What brings you genuine joy in your heart? Find what makes you happy and do it. It doesn’t have to be amazing, big, or impressive. It can be something small. And while I believe it’s possible to create happiness within before you do anything outside of yourself, I also believe that certain things in your outer world will be a match for your heart, and will light you up in a way that feels uniquely happy to you. Growing into adulthood, I often judged the things that made me feel happiness, as if they weren’t important enough. I also didn’t value happiness or joy as something that mattered. I thought it...

Finding Joy Within

True joy cannot be found outside of yourself. You may find some happiness there, in the people or things around you, but it will not be lasting. People will change, things will go away, and you will be left again with yourself. For real, true joy, you must go within. Get still and awaken the flame in your heart. There joy is.  I used to put a lot of stock into how successful I could be. I thought if I made good grades and built a great resume, then I could be happy. I was always making plans for myself in a vain attempt to find happiness. Of course, I could not be happy that way. I still had healing to do. I learned to go...

Moving Towards Joy

What makes you feel joy? What sparks that feeling for you? What makes you smile? Whatever it is, do that more! Even if it is something small or if it seems insignificant. I believe feeling joy is one of the big reasons why we’re alive. Feeling joy, happiness, and contentment is a sure sign that you are aligned with your soul’s purpose.  As a child, I knew what joy felt like. I fell into a joyful state relatively easily, if memory serves me correctly. There seemed to be so much light and peace, and things were safe. As an adult, it takes some practice. It’s easy to get caught up in my day to day life. Jobs, family, finances, stress all end up in the forefront...

Finding Joy in the Mundane

Most of our lives are taken up by very mundane, even boring, tasks. Some of my more mundane daily tasks include making beds, cleaning up toys, making breakfast, making lunch, commuting to work, doing paperwork, bathtime, and bedtime, to name a few. Sometimes these tasks seem far from my experience of connecting to God, but I know that they are a big way that I can stay present and be of service to the world. Connecting to the divine doesn’t mean we stop participating in our daily lives, we just approach them differently. As the Zen quote goes, "before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” Once we have an experience or knowledge of our oneness to the divine, our outer lives don’t always...