“I just want to feel joy.”
Don’t we all? I can’t say that I’ve ever met a busy mom who didn’t crave joy. Lasting happiness. An ongoing pleasurable experience with life.
Unfortunately, when we’re stuck in our often chaotic daily routines, joy can seem hard to come by. But in reality, joy doesn’t have to be hard to manifest in your life. You can create it by making a conscious effort to have more happiness.
Joy is an important mindset. It’s not just about what happens to you. Your reactions to events, circumstances, people, and situations are part of it. Joy may feel impermanent or fickle, but you can attract it and make it more stable.
Here are five easy ways to create more joy in your life today:
1. Make a change.
Whether you’ve always wanted to learn how to play the piano or take a professional cooking class, you can make changes in your life that lead to joy.
* Avoid allowing fear to stop you from making changes.
* Joy tends to be on the other side of fear. Can you imagine how you’ll feel when you finally take the class you’ve always wanted? Can you imagine how you’ll feel when you switch careers to something you love?
* The change doesn’t have to be huge. You can take small steps toward your dreams.
* Realize that your happiness depends on you. You can’t expect your life to get better by doing nothing every day. So make a change to take you in the direction you wish to go.
2. Learn gratitude.
It’s easy to focus on the day-to-day stress and lose sight of the simple things that you’re thankful for.
* Make a list or keep a journal of all the good things in your life. Review it each day. This will help you find peace and joy on a daily basis. You’ll see that your life isn’t made up of just negative moments.
* Your gratitude list can include ordinary things such as having a home, a bed, or a breakfast every morning. The key is to focus on the areas of your life that make you feel happy.
3. Make a happy board.
Similar to a vision board, a happy board is filled with things that make you happy – right now – rather than goals that you’re working toward.
* For example, if the beach is one of your favorite places, fill your happy board with images of beaches.
* You can make it on paper or design it online (I have mine on a private Pinterest board!).
* The key is to use the space to add things that bring joy to your life. This can act as a manifesting agent and help you get more of the things you love.
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4. Stop the flaw focus.
One of the things that hurts your ability to have more joy is a focus on your flaws.
* This applies to both internal and external influences. If others are concentrating on your flaws, then it’s time to move on and find new friends. Likewise, if you’re paying too much attention to your own flaws, then it’s time to change your mindset.
* Practice love and acceptance each day. Recognize your flaws without focusing on them.
5. Forgive yourself.
You can’t experience happiness if you’re constantly blaming yourself and making yourself feel awful. It’s important to learn how to forgive yourself to have joy.
* Learn to let go of the guilt and shame that has built up in your life. Negative situations come up for everyone. Consciously avoid dwelling on them.
* Practice forgiveness and stifle your inner critic for good. View forgiveness as a way to use self-care on a daily basis.
Final thoughts…
Joy doesn’t have to be a fleeting moment you feel on occasion. Let joy be a bigger part of your daily existence. Use these strategies and enjoy your life!
I want to hear from you!
How do you create joy in your life? Please join the discussion in the comments section below.
Comments 35
This is a great list, I’m saving it! 🙂 My worst problem is that I am so critical of myself. I need to work on that, it would certainly help!
These are good suggestions. One time I read don’t say things to yourself you wouldn’t say to others, such as, when you make a mistake, don’t say to yourself, “boy are you dumb,” or “what an idiot.” Self talk should be positive and helpful, one of your suggestions above, catch yourself and edit your script, after a while you won’t have a negative script for you.
Very good ideas! I especially like the one about stifling the inner critic.
I have been putting into practice the tips you have shared. These have really helped in my life. Thank you again for sharing God Bless
This is an area I have really been working on. I have depression and anxiety so some days are hard. I know we can’t trust our emotions. God loves us and is working with us each day. Thank you for this great article. Thank you Jesus
Learning gratitude and remembering it is so important.
My motto: An Attitude of Gratitude. Helps with finding joy.
I can only repeat what I said two weeks ago…”What an incredible, workable set of ideas to improve joy in your daily life. I am a 66 year old bachelor who has forgotten all this..if I ever knew it…this is inspiring…thank you”
Happiness is a choice! Thanks for sharing these tips.
What an incredible, workable set of ideas to improve joy in your daily life. I am a 66 year old bachelor who has forgotten all this..if I ever knew it…this is inspiring…thank you
These are amazing tips. I need to stop letting the fear keep me from making changes in my life.
Agree with you! Great to start the week ?
Such great tips. I find that expressing gratitude really clears the negativity and a reminder to focus on what’s working in your life.
Making a change has definitely helped me to find happiness. Sometimes it takes doing something new to light the flame of passion in your life again. Great tips.
I love it! It is easy to create joy with kindness 🙂
I love the idea of showing gratitude. I try to take the time to write down something I am grateful for everyday!
I like the idea of a happy list, need to work on one this year! great tips and advice
These are all great tips to creating joy today. It is so important for everyone to have joy in their life and making positive changes is a great way to achieve joy. Thanks for sharing the tips.
Yes I agree with each and every one of your suggestions on the post! Gratitude is a huge one and not to focus on flaws too… great list for our reminders!
I love these – so simple but yet I find them so hard some days!
Joy is a higher level of happiness. I’m glad I read your tips. They are helpful.
Sometimes when I feel like I am not doing a good job as a Mom, I remind myself that it is okay. I guess I can take it as a forgiving myself?
Happiness does a body good! Traveling does it for me. I love creating new memories with my family too. Love your tips. They’re a reminder. Thank you
The little joys in our day make it so much more bearable especially when we’re stressed out or if we’re feeling a little down lately. These are great tips that we can all live by!
I seriously love the last part. We often forget to forgive ourselves and just focus on doing better. Especially as mothers. We should learn to forgive ourselves and accept that we are only human, we’re not robots and we can’t be perfect.
It’s so true how joy is a mindset. I love how you mention it’s how you react to situations play a big part of how you feel. Great tips!
Thank you for your wonderful tips.
OK I totally want to go and make a happy board, that is such an amazing idea! Thank you.
I love your list! I definitely struggle with focusing on flaws as I am a hardcore perfectionist!
I try to remind myself to reach out to friends to get together! We all have busy lives so even they dont do it, I will. Friendships are what bring me joy!
Definitely some great points made
I recently sat down and made a Happy list. One of the items on my happy list was bird watching. I since went out and purchased feeders for some birds and now enjoy watching them every morning! It is a nice relaxing start to my day and puts me in the right mood.
I love the idea of gratitude. When I am down I always try to count my blessings and think of others. It helps pull me out of the dumps.
All of my grandkids are spending the week with me this week – talking about joy – my house is full of joy! Every time I pray, I always give thanks with a grateful heart and take the time to think about how blessed I am. It’s so important to have joy in our lives.
Love this list! It’s detailed enough and simple enough to start implementing. Thank you Carin 🙂 This is much needed for anyone who is going through a rough time.