“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”
~Mary Oliver
Have you been exercising your joy muscles? Can you name ten ‘joy things’ you do on a regular basis? Would you like to attract more joy in your life right now? All you need to do is start taking some baby steps. Joy is a product of creative action – nothing more, nothing less. Just the act of thinking about joy and taking one joy action daily, can turn you into a major joy magnet. We’re all pretty good at imagining the worst, how about practicing ‘positive pretending’. The art of imagining offers a short cut to living with more joy. Every act of creating begins with an imagining. Imagine wonderful, joyful things, and you will see joy expanding in your life. We truly create our world with the thoughts we think and word we say most. Have your conversations been brimming with joy or something else? Shift your thoughts, and you’ll shift your world.
Reconnecting with your joy is a great place to start. What IS joy for you? Hint: start small and build up. Start flexing your joy muscles by answering these questions: what do you enjoy doing more than anything? Name your passions (cooking, stand-up comedy, gardening or (fill in the blank) _____________ . Is there a subject you can talk about for hours? Find a small journal/notebook to record your answers. (Trying to find the brilliant ideas you put on random scraps of paper is NOT a joy thing). Just the act of jotting down your joys will start triggering happy discoveries. It will happen whether you believe it or not. The secret to discovering and multiplying your joy is paying attention to your unique preferences. Joy is a choice. Practice by picking the most-joyful-to-you-choices every day. Look for joys and record those experiences when they show up. Expore your passions. Look at what really, really, really gets you excited. Play with some new possibilities. Turn these ideas upside down and inside out. Get creative. Physically build something using tools and materials that feels fun and challenging for you. Stretch yourself – paint, sew, collage, knit, weld, sculpt, carve, draw, or invent something useful from reclaimed junk. The ‘what’ is not important. Acting on an idea is.
Want to really have some fun? Go find your creative tribe. Dare to be a beginner. Put your talents ‘out there’. Watch what happens. You may start waking up excited about the day. Great ideas might start bouncing out of your brain. You’ll start noticing little miracles and wonder-filled moments showing up. Studies show the most resilient people on earth are the ones who feel inspired. You may notice yourself cutting back on ‘stuff’ that uses up energy (like money, time, bad habits) and paying more attention to those things that light you up with enthusiasm. There are big joys waiting for you. What are YOU going to do about them?
“There is no greater joy than that of feeling oneself a creator. The triumph of life is expressed by creation.”
Henri Bergson
“The greatest gift you can give yourself is joy, not only because of the feeling that goes with it at the moment, but because of the magnificent experience it will draw to you. It will produce wonders in your life.”
Jack Boland
“Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.”
Buddha
“All animals except man know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.”
Samuel Butler
“Listen to the clues. The next time you feel real joy, stop and think. Pay attention. Because joy is the universe’s way of knocking on your mind’s door. Hello in there. Is anyone home? Can I leave a message? Yes? Good! The message is that you are happy, and that means that you are in touch with your purpose.”
Steve Chandler
“Simply be who you are, do what you do best, be where you are called by joy, and let life work its magic on your behalf.”
Alan Cohen
“Allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it. You will find you dance with everything. ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.”
Wilfred T. Grenfell
“All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.”
Napoleon Hill“It’s time to start living the life you’ve imagined.”
Henry James“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.”
Mae Jemison“You can’t do it unless you imagine it.”
George Lucas
“There is no greater joy, nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life.”
Mary Rose McGeady
“Use those talents you have. You will make it. You will give joy to the world. Take this tip from nature: The woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except those who sang best.”
Bernard Meltzer
“Imaginary obstacles are insurmountable. Real ones aren’t.”
Barbara Sher
“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”
Gloria Steinem
“Imagine everything you’re experiencing now being a hundred times more wonderful. Bad turns good; good turns great. THAT IS WHAT IS POSSIBLE.”
Marianne Williamson
“Worry is misuse of imagination.”
Dan Zadra
For our full collection of positive, inspiring quotes and coaching on 200 subjects, visit www.JoyofQuotes.com
Get inspired…pass it on! Have a blessed and joyful day…Marta