Today we are going to talk about joy. Sometimes joy and happiness get mixed up in definitions. I think joy is more important as it is solid, while happiness waxes and wanes over time.
A couple months ago I was realizing that I was not joyful, in a constant state. I was looking for the “big joys” or the big moments in life that produce the “high-highs” of emotions. Those big joys are rare and usually far between. I was chasing the big joys and feeling the lows when they passed. This produced frustration.
We have little kids in our family, and bedtime can be a challenge. It may only be 3% of the day, but sometimes that 3% of struggle wipes out all the joy of the day. Sometimes it seemed like the whole day as frustrating, just experiencing that struggle.
This is the trick that I started focusing on a couple months ago. I started noticing the “little joys” before going to sleep. At night, I would replay the mental movie of the day to re-see and re-feel the simple joys that took place in the day. Looking through those wonderful moments of the day turned my perception of the day.
One example of what I would focus on is my son. He often comes downstairs with his giant personality, big smile, and big hugs. He will say, “Daddy, I love you.” Something as simple as that is a joy. Another example is a moment where I get to go on a walk with my wife. It could be a day where I can feel the sunshine. I take that little joy moment, and bring myself back to the emotion, back to the joy. I re-feel the joy. It doesn’t have to take very long.
Going through the day again, and thinking about those simple joys, help to keep joy consistent in my life.
Finding The Simple Joys In Life
