7 Secrets to Finding Joy

by Keith Varnum -

To pursue happiness is an inalienable right. To experience happiness is not. No one owes you happiness. No one can ensure your happiness. Happiness is a choice—your choice.

The key to experiencing happiness is to put joy on your life agenda along with completing tasks and goals.

Joy is a direct result of intention. 

Your intention determines how you experience each moment of your day, each aspect of your world.

As you go through your daily activities, ask yourself, “What’s my intention?” A clear, strong intention for happiness helps you stay focused on fun and joy.

Here are a few actions you can take to make joy part of your Earth journey.

SECRETS TO FINDING JOY

1. Get outside yourself

Take the focus off yourself and commit to being a Contributor rather than a Survivor. This may seem like odd advice, but consider how attractive “needy” feels. Ask others how you can support them and they will naturally want to support you. Life is a cosmic boomerang—you get back what you send out.

Conduct a regular inner dialogue with your higher self. Say to your higher self, “I know you are here. I want to get to know you and pay attention to you. Please speak to me and guide my life.”

Don’t worry if this dialogue is entirely one-way at first. You may have been out of touch for a while. It takes time to clear the cobwebs.

Persist with this inner dialogue as if you are talking to a friend—chatting, asking questions, sharing your hopes and dreams. Sweep away mental chatter of the dead past and the uncertain future. Listen for answers. They will come.

As you begin to view life as a cosmic drama in which you are playing a very public starring role, the role of the higher self will become increasingly evident in your life.

2. Be a beacon of light

Get out of your comfort zone. Become a beacon of lightheartedness. You’ll be closer to your soul’s perspective.

Become a bright sparkling source of energy and let it reflect in all that you do. Let your spirit define who you are rather than the outside world. Turn up the volume on what you do best.

Set an upbeat pace at home and at work. Do a little more than you have to. Give a little more than is expected. Consider it an experiment and watch how others respond to you. Then see how you feel at the end of the week. If you find joy unbearable, you can always go back to being grumpy.

3. Create space for yourself

Spend some quiet time with yourself every day. It’s very important to have a place or time just for yourself. Give everything in your environment a personal touch. Create a room or private corner that fills you with joy and feels like home.

If noise and activity constantly bombard your life, you are drowning out your inner guidance. Just sit quietly with no expectations. Do nothing. This may feel very uncomfortable and strange in the beginning. Persist.

Give time and space for the inner voice to make itself heard. It will do so either during that quiet time, or through signs and messages during the events of your life. A synchronistic happening will occur. Someone will tell you exactly what you need to hear. You will get a sudden flash of insight.

Meditate. Breathe. Become a quiet, clear, pure vessel for the higher self to fill. Listen to yourself and trust what you hear. Let go of other people’s voices in your head.

4. Learn from your lows

Discover lessons to make your life better. Find value in trauma. Develop your resilience—your ability to bounce back from mishaps.

Taking a closer, more intuitive look at your tumbles can help you find a gift even in a hardship. Contented people transform problems into opportunities and trauma into something meaningful and constructive.

Ask,

“What good might result from this? How did I contribute to creating this? Is it making me stronger, wiser, more compassionate? What can I learn from this so that I can do better next time?”

Understand that failure is often a precursor to success—often in ways we can’t predict. Let your life adventures teach you.

Many people get caught in what—or who—is right or wrong instead of looking at the deeper understanding that can be gleaned from the incident. Use life’s roller coaster to change and thrive.

5. Celebrate the success of others

Celebrating the success of others takes you one step closer to being able to appreciate your own successes— rather than hiding from achievement or fearing failure. Invest attention and energy in the people you love and care about. Meaningful relationships are developed and sustained by positive attitude and action.

Make people a priority. Prioritizing relationships is a more certain path to bliss than chasing after wealth, status or power—even if you’ve got a good chance of acquiring them.

6. Cultivate beauty

Find a place where you can experience all of the sacred Four Elements: Earth, Air, Water and Fire (sun). Reset your energetic rhythms by tuning into Nature.

Allow all Four Elements to create a symphony of sensation around you, replenish your vitality, and help you return to the flow. Visit the ocean, a forest stream, or a park with a lake or a manmade fountain.

Take in some art. Art has an energy all its own. And don’t just observe the beauty, but rather immerse yourself in a work of art. The colors and shapes will awaken your senses and inner spirit.

7. Take your dream up a notch every day

Widen your worldview. Stretch your horizons. We’re brought up with a largely materialistic worldview that neglects the role of Spirit in our lives.

To establish close contact with spiritual realms, we need to have our entire being—conscious and unconscious—congruent with our soul blueprint.

Seek out writings and teachers that expand your understanding of the universe as being fundamentally the playground of consciousness and Spirit.

thedream.com

The Beauty of Oneness

by Panache Desai -

Have you ever looked at an insect - moth, butterfly, beetle or ladybug - and simply admired its beauty and purpose? Maybe it’s the softness of its body, the frailty of its legs, the lovely color of its wings.

It’s remarkable that each creature – from a human being to a fire ant - is on this earth for a reason. We each have a purpose in our oneness on earth.

The simple act of appreciation moves you into oneness. 

When you take the time to see something fully, your awareness escalates and you can become one with it.

Maybe you get a rare, up-close look at a Praying Mantis and think, "that's the greatest Praying Mantis I've ever seen."

When you take a moment to focus your awareness on it and appreciate its glorious green color, bent lanky legs and lovely, heart-shaped head, you become one with the Mantis. Human and insect connected in oneness, if only for a precious, fleeting moment.

It’s important to take some portion of your day to remember the oneness of all life.

As vibrational beings, we can always access that connection because we all are the same.

When you move into a heightened space of awareness, you can see the common singularity throughout all of reality. 

You can honor oneness every day by appreciating what’s around you - a blooming flower, the turning of the leaves, your family, your pets or a stranger on the street.

As you start recognizing the connectedness of life, you begin to see yourself in everything and everyone you meet.

When someone says, "I feel invisible," it’s really a prayer - a plea for someone to take time and appreciate all the joy, kindness and love they have to offer.

We all have a purpose. We are all amazing, remarkable creatures. 

When we connect in oneness, we form a powerful union, appreciate each other’s beautiful wings and soar to new heights of wholeness together.

panachedesai.com

Dance Lightly With Life

Today is your day to dance lightly with life,

sing wild songs of adventure,

invite rainbows and butterflies out to play,

soar your spirit and unfurl your joy.






Today is your day to paint life in bold colors,

set today's rhythm with your heart-drum,

walk today's march with courage,

create today as your celebration of life.





Today is your day to practice whimsey,

skip on the beach and play with the waves,

watch wondrous cloud animals parade your story,

find a magical white bunny down every rabbit hole.





Today is your day to laugh at life,

laugh at what's funny - laugh at what's sad,

laugh loud - laugh often,

laugh at me - laugh at you - laugh at life.




Today is your day to honor your being,

release each and every struggle,

gather strength from life's storms,

relax into the arms of spirit.



Today is your day to see in yourself the face of God.

Your mind sparks, your soul sparkles.

Your peace is counterpoint to the clamor of life.

You are a magnificent gift to the world.

by Jonathan Lockwood Huie 
jonathanlockwoodhuie.com

Creating a Joyous Life

by Louise L. Hay - 
You Can Do It!

Take control over your own thinking. Today is a new day. Today is a day for you to begin creating a joyous, fulfilling life. Today is the day to begin to release all your limitations. 

Today is the day for you to learn the secrets of life. You can do it. You can change your life for the better. You already have the tools within you to do so. These tools are your thoughts and your beliefs.

How do you feel right now? Do you feel good? Do you feel bad? What are your current emotions? What is your gut feeling? Would you like to feel better? Then reach for a better feeling or thought. 

If you feel bad in any way—sad, grumpy, bitter, resentful, angry, fearful, guilty, depressed, jealous, critical, and so on—then you’ve temporarily lost your connection to the flow of good experiences that the Universe has waiting for you. 

Don’t waste your thoughts on blame. No person, place, or thing has any control over your feelings because they don’t think in your mind. 

This is also why you really have no control over others—you see, you can’t control their thoughts. No one can control another unless that person gives permission. So you want to be aware of this powerful mind you have. 

You can take total control over your own thinking. It’s the only thing you’ll ever have total control of. What you choose to think is what you’ll get in life. I’ve chosen to think thoughts of joy and appreciation and you can, too.

What kind of thoughts make you feel good? Thoughts of love, appreciation, gratitude, joyful childhood experiences? Thoughts in which you rejoice that you’re alive and bless your body with love? 

Do you truly enjoy this present moment and get excited about tomorrow? Thinking these kinds of thoughts is an act of loving yourself and loving yourself creates miracles in your life.

We can think happy thoughts. We can think positive thoughts. We can say, “Yes, I can do it!” we can think thoughts that make us feel joyous. We can learn to think only about all the good in the world. 

We can lift our thoughts up. We can greet each day with a smile. We can let the world know that we’re happy to be alive. We can express gratitude at every turn. We can love our bodies. We can be our best friends.

The reward of affirmations is that you get to watch day by day as your life turns into the most joyous, loving, healthy, prosperous, fabulous experiences. And they will last for all the rest of your days on Earth. 

 So train yourself to think thoughts that make you feel good. That way, you’ll always be creating your life out of joy and in joy.

Say it right now: 

I can do it. I can do it. I can do it!

louisehay.com

The Soul of Humanity

by Don Miguel Ruiz - 

Light is alive and it carries the message of life all around the universe.

I believe in angels. The word angel means messenger. Everything that exists is a manifestation of one being and it manifests through messengers. Messengers deliver the will of the one being and the supreme messenger is light.

Light, the divine messenger, has billions of different frequencies. Though it is only one being, it divides itself for the creation of life into our beautiful Mother, the planet Earth. Every vibration of light has a specific message for every kind of life that exists in this beautiful world.

There is a specific frequency of light that carries information for the creation of humans. 

That ray of light manifests as DNA and only creates humans — you and me. We are beings of light because we are beings of energy.

The force of life that manifests as humans recognizes its own kind. It is the soul of humanity and it is a major angel. The soul of humanity is a messenger; you are a messenger and your message is your life.

In your heart is the real message that humans have been trying to deliver. 

For so many years we have delivered the wrong message: a message of fear, a message of selfishness, a message of anger, violence, and injustice. This message is not ours.

Humans were made for love; our function is to love. 

Sharing love is human nature because we come from love, we come from light, we come from our Creator. Our nature is to love and to play, to enjoy life, and to be happy.

We have a message to deliver — first to ourselves and then to one another. 

That message is to remember what we really are, to remember our real nature and to become what we really are. It doesn’t matter where we are born; it doesn’t matter what language we speak. We are only one being; we come from the same ray of light and we have the same message.

Our message is love and joy.

You can recover the integrity that you lost as a child. 

You can recover the message that you haven’t delivered for so long, and start delivering it again. The voice of integrity, the voice of your spirit, is always speaking to you even if you don’t want to listen. And that voice is saying, “I love you.”

In every activity of your life, you can express the real message of your heart, the message you are feeling right now. When you express what you really are in life, only beauty can come out of you, only joy and respect and happiness.

Today, imagine all the love flowing from your heart to all the people who need your love. 

Join your heart with my heart and together let’s offer our love to the world. By putting our hearts together and sending our love to all of humanity, the moment will come when their hearts will react to that love. They will express their love also, the same way that we are expressing our love.

miguelruiz.com
intent.com

The Experience of Essence

by Gina Lake -

Whatever you are doing, enjoy it! 

You have another option, of course, which is to not enjoy it. Notice what keeps you from enjoying whatever you are doing. It’s thoughts, isn’t it? Even if you’re experiencing pain, for instance or something unpleasant, like going to the dentist, if you don’t listen to any negative thoughts, fears, complaints and desires related to that, you won’t suffer. You’ll just have the experience.

Your thoughts about whatever you’re doing interfere with enjoying it, in part, because they are often negative, judgmental or resistant to the experience but also because thoughts—whether positive or negative—remove you from the experience, to a greater or lesser degree.

Some thoughts don’t interfere a great deal with being present and enjoying what you’re doing. They are just floating in and out of your mind, without you paying much attention to them.

Others, however, grab you and pull you into the mental world, where you lose touch with what you’re doing and with the experience you’re having. When that happens, it feels like you are just “going through the motions” or doing something just to get it done.

You can go through life this way but you miss out on the potential joy and pleasure in an experience when you’re not fully in contact with it. 

Any experience can be interesting, since you’ve never had it before, and it can be enjoyed because when you immerse yourself in an experience, you lose the false self (the sense of “I” or “me”) and discover the true Self, which is always enjoying life.

Essence Is Always in Joy!

From its standpoint every moment is an opportunity to serve life and to love, which is another source of joy.

What if you approached each moment as an opportunity to experience, serve or love?

The secret to enjoying what you are doing is to get lost in it—to get involved in it. 

That means to get all your senses involved in it or more accurately, to notice how all your senses are involved in it.

This noticing of sensate experience will take you out of your egoic mind (your functional mind is still available) and into the experience you are having. When you are present to the experience you’re having, you are in the moment and that’s when you experience Presence or essence.

The experience of essence is highly pleasurable, so no matter what you are doing, if you’re present to it, it will be enjoyable.

What’s so hard about that?

It takes some practice to be in your body and aware of your sensate experience because the habit of paying attention to thought is so deeply ingrained. You have to practice being present again and again to neutralize the old habit of identifying with the egoic mind.

This takes a certain amount of dedication and commitment. Meditation is another way of practicing this, and it will really help you be more present in your life. Meditation teaches you to detach from the egoic mind, to watch it, and see it for what it is.

This objectivity towards the mind is essential in breaking the programming that causes you to identify with it. You can even learn to enjoy meditation if you don’t listen to the mind’s resistance to meditate!

radicalhappiness.com

Your Inner Compass

by Carrie Hart -

Making Your Way Through the Forest:

The more you look within, the more you will see clearly and truly. The more you invite the golden light of your soul self to flow down within you, clearing your inner eye, the more brightly will glow all that you can do and be. For it is all within you. You are right now, everything that you need to be. You, just as you are, are exactly as you should be.

There is nothing missing. There have been no mistakes. 

By definition, you own the capabilities to be, express and show who you truly are. And this is what you are meant to do, to expand and glow, showing and sharing the truth that burns within you.

If you cannot see clearly where the path lies for you, do not be concerned. Sometimes it is revealed only step by step, moment by moment, like making your way through the forest in a fog. At other times, the sun shines brightly and a clearing opens for you to run across in clarity and joy.

It does not matter if you find yourself in a dense forest in the fog or in that open clearing. Either way, your shining inner self has a compass, a compass that lives in your center, deep in your heart of truth and peace. And as you feel your way along through the mossy trees, it will tell you if you are heading in the right direction.

This journey will continue until your days on the earth are over. There is no time that you will say, this is it, this is finally what I am meant to do or be. For you are already there. You are already who you are meant to be. It does not take any struggle to become yourself, for this is already achieved. And this is why your circumstances do not matter, because you have already arrived.

For in the forest of life, you only find yourself. In the depths and in the clearings, in the dappled sunshine and in the darkest undergrowth, all you find is yourself. And in truth, you are already what you seek.

Relax and Be. 

Reach in and find yourself and then expand. Begin by expanding from your center, letting the golden light from your soul self fill you and set you aglow. Expand out and out. And eventually, what you do with your time here will be a reflection of this glow and you will be offered opportunities to use the glow that is you more and more. 

A day will come when your truth will shine out so brightly that every word from your mouth and every movement you make will be a complete expression of your truth, pure and unsullied and all confusion will go away. You will shine out with a light so bright that the forest will be seen as what it is, a dream, a shadow, insubstantial, something you can see right through.

This glow may last a moment only or it may last an hour, a day. But it will show you what is possible. And the more time you spend in that brightest glow, the more the forest will be there but not there, the more you will not even need a sun-filled clearing to run across, for the sunshine will be within you, generated by your own glow and you will find that you can run through the trees just for the sheer joy of being.

For that moment, that hour, that day, you can also lift yourself up and out of the forest altogether, to become one with the great glow that is the glow of all, of the highest and widest, of the very mind and heart of God, the glow of being and flowing and oneness, the ground state of being, the I Am presence, the heart and soul of all that is.

Touch this bright glow with your soul. Be one with it. 

Then carry it back down within you, to make your own truth brighter and clearer. For in the end, it is all one truth and that truth is love.

carriehart.com

Beautiful Moments

by Ralph Marston -

When one beautiful moment ends, another begins. 

Do not hold so tightly that you miss the beauty altogether. With a thankful heart enjoy the goodness that comes your way in things great and small. The way to make sure you never lose it is to simply let it be.  

In good time the joys of life come, one after another. Be open and accepting of what is now here and you'll connect with the abundance that is all around you. 
Each moment is a blessing.  

Treasure its unique gifts and do not rush to the next one or worry that the last one was insufficient. 

Relish the beauty that is now and know that there will be more.  

Fully live and appreciate what you have right here and now. In this beautiful moment is great and profound treasure. Let it be and it is always yours.

  greatday.com

Simply Being

by Julie Miller -
Humbled by Joy:

A person that is great in humbleness has a marvelous amount of personal power. They don’t move along their journey trying to impress anyone, nor do they purposely influence others.

They are quite simply being. And what are they just being? 

Well they are being themselves, their natural self. And yes people are often drawn to them magnetically, even though for the most part they are quiet, deeply focused, yet at the same time very much aware of their surroundings but most of all aware of their inner self. 

The person of great humbleness has no need to persuade, manipulate or to act aggressively just to make a point or to get their way. What they do is listen, if they can help a situation they will but if they cannot what they are able to offer is their respectful silence. 

The dear souls that are naturally humble or who have become greatly humbled due to experiencing many traumatic situations come to realize just how precious life truly is and they choose not to waste their time and energy in anger or hostility.

They understand that in order to be joyful in life, to have peace in every step, one first must be able to love themselves in order to love others. 

Of course choices plays a huge role here as each of you already understand how difficult it can be to make the right choice. 

How many choices do you make in hopes to please another? How many choices do you make that come straight from the heart, without the need to be influenced by another or in hopes to persuade someone?

How a person thinks of you regarding the choices you make for your path should not be why you do things. It is important to take ownership of your journey. 

The Humble Approach

Others may try to tell you what to do, which way to go but they are not the ones walking your path; as they must walk their own, just as you are.

There is really no good reason why everyone cannot come from a humble heart and express genuine kindness through every gesture and every gesture and word is filled with confidence.

It is more than possible to live a joyous life that comes from humility, forgiveness, gratitude and all-encompassing compassion for all life. 

Sometimes you might hear little whispers or prodding to what is to come next for you. 

What is next doesn’t have to be complicated, it could be as simple as going for a walk, reading a book, enjoying some down time or starting a new project…whatever it is you start next may not always appear to be connected to your unique higher purpose and mission.

This is when you need to remember, everything you do, everything that occurs all happens for a very good reason, there are no coincidences in life. Dear ones, every next step you take will always be shown to you through simple means, from obvious things that bring you joy. 

Showing Compassion

As you make your way through life, you will meet all sorts of people from diverse backgrounds and culture.

They may not understand your ways, and quite possibly you may not agree with theirs but this does not mean you cannot be compassionate in your actions and words.

Regardless how they live or who they are it is more than possible to acknowledge their humanness as well as their divine nature. 

When you see another person, is it not possible to see parts of yourself? 

When you are in the company of others, even if it’s part of a business meeting, a family get-together or sitting on a cramped city bus, there is always an opportunity to assist, to heal, to help show or even to quietly comfort another person. 

If for some reason you feel there is nothing you can help with, not even from your presence then dear ones it is necessary to remove yourself in order to not be pulled down by any negative energy that may be present.

Even while walking the path of compassion, it is necessary to protect your precious heart and not allow others to use you as a welcome mat that we see in front of many doors. 

Allow Joy

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to stop worrying about what others think, stop worrying about things that have little to no relevance to your life and to allow your heart, mind, body and spirit to be filled with genuine joy. 

Only you can provide yourself a meaningful life and you do this by realizing how many meaningful experiences you already have had and open yourself up to be drawn to even more meaningful experiences that fill your heart with joy so more and more synchronicities can accelerate your path to that of witnessing more miracles, more love, more goodness, more kindness more peace and more that God wants you to experience. 

As you are on this path, learning from experience what it is you want to do, which direction you want to take at every instance, it is important dear ones to remember that in order to deliver yourself to joy, you first must accept the sad and sorrowful parts.

Paradox lives in your life. You cannot know one without knowing the other. Just because you choose one way of seeing life doesn’t mean its opposite is not there, think of the opposite just being asleep and all things that sleep eventually wake. 

Letting Go

Sorrow, pain, discomfort and other heavy feelings and emotions are important as they help prepare you for the joys and happiness life also has in store for you.

When you are done with the sadness and the pain, then joy and happiness is able to sweep away any discord and disharmony, leaving you fresh and ready to take on the world.

New always comes after you let go of the old. 

This sometimes can take a while because you must permit your sad feelings to leave. It’s okay to no longer feel the pain or the sorrow of a difficult situation or to finally take charge by no longer feeling sorry for yourself. 

Moving in the Present

Things will always get better the moment you stop living in the past and remember what is all around you is a gift, it is the present and you have the ability to make it move in any direction. 

If you want a life filled with continuous joy then dear ones, only you can make this happen by becoming more aware of where your choices may lead you and to accept each step as you go as part of the God’s divine plan and part of your divine mission. 

To grow and develop, you must learn and learning is best from experience and seeing from the heart that every experience holds something of value and holds many meaningful insights to your own inner self. 

From all the disaster and pain you see through the newspapers of late, the caring side of your nature comes shining through. You want to change the world. You want to bring an end to disaster, pain and the hurt that you see on your television screens. The best place to begin making changes is with yourself. 

Be Free

To free yourself from any old way of thinking and being so you may be as free as the divine birds that fly in the sky above.

Instead of reacting with heat and anger while so much calamity is happening throughout the world, you can take on a tranquil demeanor, be genuinely serene and at peace with your mind, body, heart and spirit.

You can smile as you walk past people, say Hello, or Good-Morning. It may not seem you are doing much to help the world but you are. 

Every time you demonstrate peace, kindness, love and respect you are showing those around you even though there are others in the world in worse conditions, you are still able to love and to be kind and to live a life that is simple and joyful. 

Being genuinely kind doesn’t have to cost a cent, smiling also has no price. Both are natural occurrences from those that live from the heart, who walk through life with a humbled approach and see each interaction and every situation as something of value and to something to learn and grow from, not something they must tackle and force change.

You are loving by nature. Now is a perfect time to show your natural loving side that is at peace with all life. 

lightworkers.org

Loving Life

by Ralph Marston -

Fall in love again each moment with life. 

Breathe in the rich, new wondrous possibilities that are continually being born. Realize what a grand opportunity exists in even the smallest of matters.  

Today is a day like no other and you are magnificently blessed to be a part of all that it encompasses. 

The wind blows, the sun shines, night falls and some days bring brutal cold while others offer stifling heat.  

There is beauty, there is tragedy and there is exquisite fulfillment along with bitter disappointment. 

On the surface, life is filled with much adventure, activity, change, confusion, excitement, joy and frustration.  

Underlying it all you'll find abiding peace and goodness that can never be denied.  

You have the unique, unmatched good fortune of being you, right here and right now. 

Take a brief moment to realize and remember who you truly are.  

Then look out at the vast expanse of possibilities that surrounds you. And dive lovingly into it in your own special way.

greatday.com