#12 of an Inspirational Series
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Are you chasing joy? If so, you’re probably keen on infusing your life only with what brings you joy. I want to share with you 5 Surprising Secrets to Living a Joy-Filled Life.
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What is meant by living a joy-filled life?
According to Universal Life Tools, joyful living means:
‘Choosing to live life through the heart (hearty), you transcend your worries (carefree) and you experience the ecstasy (exultation) of spirit.‘
In other words, living a life of joy means choosing happiness in ordinary everyday life.
This does not mean that you will suddenly have a perfect life free of challenges.
It simply means living life where you accept your problems and do not let them color your entire life as they so often do.
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Be sure to also read How to Discover Your Own Joy.
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First steps to living joyfully
Start by taking time to reflect, analyse and evaluate your life so far. The best thing to do now is to start a journal. Use the following journal prompts to plot your route to a joyful life:
- Is my life filled with joy?
- What are the obstacles to living a joy-filled life?
- How can I overcome these challenges to live in joy?
The result of this journaling process is likely to be acceptance as this verse from The Serenity Prayer shows:
‘God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.’
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For more joy in your life, you’ll enjoy 5 Simple Keys to Happiness and Joy.
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5 Simple Joyful Habits to Cultivate
Here are 5 ways to imbue your life with happiness every single day.
1. Make your home more zen
You want your home and your environment to reflect peace, joy, and happiness.
Revamp your home to make it an oasis. Use:
- Calming colors to invoke peace
- Splashes of bright colors to spark joy
- Natural fabrics
- Flowers and indoor plants
- Photographs of nature
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Check out this YouTube video on how to create a peaceful atmosphere in your home:
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2. Start a daily self-care ritual.
This is a great way to nurture and nourish yourself. The ideal way is to spend about 30 minutes on uplifting activities to start the day off on a positive note.
Some self- love habits to include are:
- Light stretching exercises like yoga
- Journaling
- Reading a religious or self-help text
- Listening to an inspirational podcast
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3. Embrace meditation
Elite Daily in this post states that meditation…
‘Simply involves turning inwards and being able to observe all of your thoughts and bodily sensations, without judgment.‘
Every time you meditate, you get to know yourself better. You learn who you really are and what you want for your life.
So, if you want a joyful life, you make the choice to allow only joyful experiences. For example, you may choose to distance yourself from toxic people. This, in turn, leads to better relationships with like-minded joyful beings.
Your joyful compass steers you to find joy in everything be it family, friends, work or your church.
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Be sure to read my Signature Post Choosing Joy Every Day.
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4. Curate a joyful playlist
Have you ever experienced a lift of your spirits whenever you listen to a special song?
Well, you can enjoy that sensation daily by creating a special joyful playlist. You could include:
- Happy music like this one
- Podcast episodes that motivate you to live in joy
- Inspirational poetry readings
The playlist would be like a tidal wave of happiness flooding your soul daily.
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5. Start a joyful bucket list
Write out your bucket list of happiness experiences you want to have.
A bucket list is often associated with travel but you may have a list of simple pleasures you want to have.
Here are a few non-travel bucket list items:
- Watch the sun come up over the sea
- Take a class to learn to make Chinese dumplings
- Learn to paint
- Study a new language
But don’t just write the bucket list and forget about it. Set a few realistic goals to tick off items on your bucket list.
For example, you may want to see the sun rise over the ocean but you live inland. So research scenic sunrises that you can travel to. Make it a fun outing by inviting a few fellow joy seekers to share it with you.
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Final thoughts
This quote sums up perfectly the importance of joyful living:
‘Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.‘ ~Chuck Palahniuk
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Did you enjoy reading ‘5 Surprising Secrets to Living a Joy-Filled Life?’ Be sure to share it on your favorite social media platforms so that others can learn the tools to living a joy-filled life.
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Did you know….. You can have JOY delivered right to your inbox?
Simply subscribe below to my monthly emails. Sit back and enjoy!
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I want to thank Poovanesh Pather for her contribution to this post. Poovanesh blogs about Parenting Teenagers and Personal Growth at Family Growth Life.com. You can access her latest helpful resource, The Happiness List intended to help parents cope with Teenage Sadness and Depression.
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Wonderful tips, thanks! I’m working on creating a playlist now, never been that techy, but figuring it out. Trying to work on a morning routine too. Depression kind of gets in the way of it happening every day, but I’m appreciating the days I can manage to do it and you’re right, it does help.
Excellent! Look at you go. I’d love to hear about your playlist when you have it complete.
This was right on time for me! Struggling with finding joy right now. Thank you for this.
Wishing you all the best on your ‘journey to joy.’
Well presented article! This article will incredibly helpful for all of us who aspire to live a happy life. Thank you for sharing!
Love your closing quote! I’ve never been a morning person, but giving myself some extra time in the morning for some self-care could be beneficial. Thanks! 🙂
I love that you mention meditation, that has become an essential daily to-do for me!
I love the idea of having a non-travel related bucket list! That way you can focus on finding joy in your every day life. Thanks for sharing!