Choose Joy

I envision Joyful Explorers as a platform for exploring myriad ways to manifest Joy in your life through the simple act of self-awareness.

I challenge you to begin your day with a practice of Joyfully Exploring something in your world that will make you smile. Anything that will lift your heart, raise your vibration, bring a tingle to your cells.

Joy is a choice. Our thoughts are a choice. We get to choose, in every moment, what we will focus on. I’ve decided to view the world through the lens of JOY. Well…as often as possible. As with everything worthwhile…Joy takes practice.

Today, I celebrate with my family, the wedding of my nephew, Gabe to his new bride Hilary. I imagine we will all be Joyfully Exploring loving relationships and friendships, new and old,  throughout the weekend and for years to come as we remember this day.

I’m sure you know what Joy feels like. Maybe not in this moment, but sometime in your life you have felt pure, radiant Joy. Think of that time. Remember it with every fiber of your being. What does it feel like? Is it a sight, a taste, a smell, a sound?

When you have that moment of pure Joy in your awareness, spend some time with it. Get to know it so well that you can recall it – not the memory of the event, but the memory of the sensation – in an instant. Then, practice that feeling at least once a day for a few minutes.

I have found that it feels so good to live from that space of JOY, that I want to practice it often, throughout the day. And the more I practice Joy, the easier it becomes to feel Joy, to BE Joy. It sneaks up on me when I least expect it these days. Pulling me out of a potential unjoyful moment, Joy floods my bodymind, washing out negativity, criticism, and judgement, shining its healing light throughout my life.

Try it now. In this moment, choose Joy. Can you describe what JOY feels like in your body? Is it easier to see an event that caused you great Joy? Or do you hear music or a poem or a child’s laughter that evokes Joy? Do you remember a taste or a smell that brings Joy most easily into your awareness?

Welcome to my first blog. I should let you know that this is NOT a self-help blog. That would imply that there’s something wrong with you and, whether or not you believe it yet, you are perfect the way you are. What I intend to do is to remind you to choose Joy in your life every single day, as often as possible.

In posts to come, I will offer prompts to Joyfully Explore some aspect of your Self or your environment. Let’s start a dialogue about what Joy means to you and how increasing the Joy in our own lives amplifies the Joy we experience all around us. The world is our mirror. Look into it with Joy and Joy will be reflected back to you.

Try it for a day…then another day…maybe for a week? When you first awaken, lie still for a few moments, choosing Joy. Share your thoughts here with our community of Joyful Explorers.