joy

5 Steps to Your More Joyful Life

Lynette M Burrows

I read an article recently that we don’t use weekends wisely. (I assumed the article referred to Americans but am sure this applies to others as well.) We do chores, grocery shopping, visit with family or friends, run the kids to sports or events, clean house, and whittle down our to-do list. So when did we recharge? When do we relax and let joy into our life? Many of us never do. Some of us plan to do it when we retire. But putting off the things that bring you joy is a disservice to yourself and those around you. Joy isn’t a luxury. There are ways you can create your more joyful life. Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain. Joseph Campbell Schedule Time for Joy Did you know you can fall out of practice with joy? Joy is a choice. If you don’t have time, you don’t experience joy—you develop a subconscious habit of not choosing joy. We all live busy lives. You probably already schedule time for that basketball game or the grocery shopping or dinner with family. Hopefully, some of those things bring you joy. But what if you’re […]

Give Yourself the Gift of Joy

Lynette M Burrows

You know each person has a certain level of intelligence we call an IQ. Maybe you’ve heard that each individual has a unique ability to perceive, manage and regulate emotions, an emotional IQ. Did you know you also have an individual level of joyfulness? You can choose to live up to your joy potential—or not. Don’t overlook it. Give yourself the gift of joy. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” Dennis P. Kimbro What is Joy? Some people use joy and happiness as synonyms. Even Merriam-Webster defines happiness as “a state of well-being and contentment: JOY.” But that’s not quite right.  According to Merriam-Webster, joy is “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing one’s desires.” That’s a dry answer.  The APA Dictionary of Psychology says joy is “a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.” This dictionary explains the difference between active and passive joy. “Both forms of joy are associate with an increase in energy and of confidence and self-esteem.”  Be Honest with Yourself Life is full of ups and downs. No […]

The Challenge of 2020 is to Find Your Joy

Lynette M Burrows

I’m worried about you. On my Facebook and twitter feeds, I see a lot of you are in distress. Yes, we’ve more than a few challenges this year. For some of you, those challenges are down right catastrophes. But for a lot of you, you’re taking on those catastrophes as your own. You’ve lost your joy. And that is a catastrophe. The challenge of 2020 to find your joy. Without a little joy each day, you’re allowing the world and events you cannot control to control you and how you feel. Perhaps you’ll find a little joy in one of these quotes. Joy While Having a Bad Day Those who prepared for all the emergencies of life beforehand may equip themselves at the expense of joy. E. M. Forster I discovered that joy is not the negation of pain, but rather acknowledging the presence of pain and feeling happiness in spite of it. Lupita Nyong’o We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year! Russell M. Nelson We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy. Joseph Campbell We have to embrace obstacles to reach the next stage […]