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Why To Choose Joy over Happiness

I am resolving from this day forward to choose joy over happiness.


Perhaps you want to give it a try too?


The word happiness resonates throughout our modern culture. Happiness is revered,

longed for, and worked on as a project.


I believed in the pursuit of happiness for a while myself.


Until the day I went out for my usual walk through green fields and to the woods. It was the first time I had felt healthy enough to go after struggling with pneumonia.


It was glorious to be healthy again after weeks of weakness and illness. Walking through the frozen landscape, my breath misting in the morning air, I soaked in the quiet.


My soul expanded, tethered upward by wings extending in my gratitude for the beautiful landscape and my returning strength. A serenity flowed over and through me.


By the time I returned home, I was glowing.


Happiness bubbles up in reaction to interactions with others, the enjoyment of pleasure, or as a result of pride in one's accomplishments or possessions.

Joy, in contrast, embraces us when we are in a state of wonder, out in nature, genuinely loving, or in the flow of engaging in an activity out of space and time.


Whereas I see happiness as a result of emotion, joy is an experience of the process. It pitches you up and deeper into the present moment.


Enjoyment doesn't rely on the past or the future to exist. All that you were, are, and could be in the future is gathered up and swept aside. No wonder joy feels so liberating and serene.


So how do you change focus from happiness to joy?


1. Go out and experience the wonder and beauty of nature. Feel the sun warm on your skin, enjoy the rush of the wind on your face, listen to the leaves rustling in the wind or the waves crashing on the shore.


2. Connect with someone you adore by offering up a warm embrace, a cuddle, or an expression of what you admire or appreciate about them.


3. Immerse yourself in a passion. When I write, swim, hike, or do yoga, then time and space fall away, and joy takes its place. (It takes EFFORT to drag yourself to your yoga mat or to your laptop to write. Don't wait until you feel like doing it. Do it anyway.)

What is your passion? Cooking? Singing? Playing an instrument? Preparing for a party? Photography? Volunteering? If you don’t know, start exploring different activities to find one that brings you the bliss of flow.


4. Meditate or pray.


5. Create :) You may not believe you are creative. Who cares? Create for the pure joy it unleashes within you! You can arrange flowers, plant a garden, build a birdhouse, write a book, design a new gadget, sculpt, paint, draw, color, write, craft, sew, cook, create videos, decorate, write lyrics or music, or ----. The options are vast.


Wishing you a moment of pure joy - Heather Nadine


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©2017 by Heather Nadine Lenz. Made with ❤️ in Switzerland.

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