Bring More Joy Into Your Life
The winter blahs are in full effect. There are times that it feels like there just isn’t anything to be joyful about. Or the days are so busy and jam packed that you can’t remember the last time you were really, truly happy.
But who doesn’t want to experience more joy in their life?
You can’t just sit around and wish for joy and happiness to appear in your life. Finding joy is a proactive thing. If you want it, you have to go find it!
Eight Steps You Can Take to Bring More Joy into Your Life
1. Put It on Your List: I’m serious. This simple step will help put finding joy in the forefront of you mind. Put it on your to-list, hang it on your fridge, write it on your dry-erase board. Put it somewhere that you will see often. Making a note to find joy will help kick-start your mind and help you start looking for the happy things.
2. No Self-Condemnation: Do you feel guilty or embarrassed when you are joyful? Knock that off right now. There is no reason to feel guilty about having joy in your life. Just because others aren’t happy, doesn’t mean you have to board the train to unhappy town. Don’t let yourself feel guilty about being happy. Instead, give yourself permission to be joyful.
3. Share Your Silly Moments: Don’t keep those things to yourself! Share it! Text it. Tweet it. Facebook it. Instagram it. Whatever it. Share the joy with everyone!
4. Learn to Laugh at Yourself: One thing I try to do is not take myself so seriously. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. We all do silly, and plain ‘ole dumb, things from time to time. It’s how you deal with it that matters!
5. Just Play: Put the laptop away, the smartphone down, and go play with your kids. If you can go outside, get out there! You don’t have to have a plan or play something specific, just do it! Follow your kids’ lead in imaginative play and just let it go!
6. Smile: Yup, that simple. Just smile. At your kids. At the dog. At the stranger in the supermarket. Smile at the things that you see around you. You may be surprised and get a smile back.
7. Say Thank You: Say thank you to someone every day for how they make you feel or for what they’ve done for you or just simply for how they make you feel.
8. The Joy of Nature: Remember in #5, I said to get outside? Getting outside in the fresh air with the sun beaming on your face is a wonderful way to experience the joy in nature. Even when it’s a snowy day, go out and enjoy the quietness and beauty of the fresh snowfall. Getting outside for a few minutes every day can help you a lot. You don’t have to do anything, just get outside and take it all in.
I love these tips, I find it hard to find it hard to find joy this time of year.
We find joy in outdoor activities so we started our kids skiing at a young age. At four, my twins can already ski better than me! It’s so fun to have this as a family activity.
Great list!
I am definitely a work in progress. Thank you for this list to help me stay focused!
I love tip #4. I think sometimes I am way too hard on myself. Thank you for the reminder.
Thanks for sharing these tips. Finding joy this time a year can be hard for many.
Great tips! And smiling is contagious too!
An addition of a little dog has brought a lot of joy to our house lately.
I like to play hooky once in awhile. In fact, I’m due for a day off at Longwood Gardens.
Stephanie, these tips to curate joy are FABULOUS!
No self-condemnation… YES! Laughing and playing… yes! Yes!
I recently heard that our endorphins increase when we’re looking at little faces (people or animals)… so bring on the kitten and baby sloth YouTube videos!!
Thanks so much for sharing and for linking this post up to the #SHINEbloghop!
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
These are great ideas. So much of joy is just being intentional with your time and life. Hard thing to remember when life is just oppressing. I went sledding with my daughter a couple months ago before it got too cold for us to go outside (and we got the cold from you know where). It was a great day! 🙂
(visiting from the Frugal Friday link up and pinning)
I love tip #1 (Schedule Joy). I love my to-do lists and schedules, but often times they are filled with things I need to do (and want to do!), but not necessarily things that bring me joy. Time to pencil it in!
I think #8, just play, is my favorite joy-bringer. So often I am multi-tasking even WHILE I’m playing with my little ones. When I make it a point to turn technology off, put it away, and be FULLY PRESENT with my kids–bringing out the goofiest side of myself and going for the most laughs I can get out of my littles, it brings me SUCH JOY. Great list. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Just wanted to let you know that I featured this post on Family Fun Friday this week over at Happy and Blessed Home. Thanks so much!