“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles with warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things”
The Sound Of Music – My Favorite Things (maria) Lyrics
What do these favourite things bring…..JOY!
“We have to choose joy and keep choosing it.”
Henri J.M.. Nouwen
Joy is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
In our present day we find ourselves so easily caught up in craziness that is life. We can loose slight of the simple joys and pleasures surrounding us each and every day. We have allowed our lives to be so busy, that we are constantly distracted by our phones, social media, the next function, the next thing, that we have simply forgotten to stop and enjoy that which surrounds us. The simply pleasures.
The ability to attract joy and becoming fulfilled with it, is one we must frequently remind ourselves do to.
Some step you can take to bring that harmonious sense of fulfilment, pleasure and happiness = JOY, are;
SENSE IT
Take a break to sit down and reflect on what is around us, what is happening in our life that gives us joy.
- The sensations we feel when around our family, friends or special loved ones (husbands/wives, partners, children and pets)
- The events we’ve shared with people that have been overflowing with amazing memories.
- The special trinkets we’ve received in our life that have held such value and bring those emotions and memories.
- The simple pleasures, the sun on our face, the wind in our hair, the warmth of a fire on a cold day, the smell of the sea breeze or mum’s home cooked meal, or that song that takes you back in time.
CAPTURE
Keep a journal of those special events in your life, write down all the emotions you felt, the key moments that capture your attention and the sensations you absorbed around you. Paste in pictures from the moment.
REFLECT
When you are faced with those ‘challenging life moments’ and are feeling lost or overwhelmed, take out your journal of your life’s joyful moments and absorb it, take yourself back to that memory and enjoy each and every detail again and again. This helps you to realise it will be okay and there are many many more special moments to come. Just take it one step at a time through the challenges.
SHARE
Share your joyful moments with family and friends, and even a stranger. A great dinner party or night out, often has reflections of past fun time, with laughter surrounding it. How many time do you hear or say ‘Do you remember….’, or ‘OMG, I recall when…..’ Sharing these special memories, can change someone’s outlook or affect a person positively in ways that you many never know.
PAY IT FORWARD
Keep it routine to bring joy, joy, joy into your life. When you are full of life’s wonders of JOY, you will pay it forward and your aura will rub onto those around you.
CREATE YOUR SPACE
Surround yourself and your space with photos or trinkets that hold all your life’s joyful moments. These special moments are what created you to who you are today, along with life’s challenges. Remember, in life it is not the challenge that creates you, it is how you handle the challenge. So handle it positively.
One of my beautiful friends always says ‘Life gives to those who are made to handle it.’ Life has thrown her family some interesting curveballs, and when she’s not saying ‘what doesn’t kill ya makes you stronger’, she says ‘life gives to those who are made to handle it.’ She always put a positive spin on what is thrown at her.
So today, I want you to take the pledge to change the way you view it, to remember those special happy moments life has given you, create more special moments and share share share, you never know how much one simple little gesture could change someone’s life.
