What brings you Joy?

First written in Feb 24, 2010

Those of you who know me know that I love celebrating the New Year and I, like most of you, have been making new year resolutions for decades with varying amounts of success. 2018 was the year I made the most important, life-changing goal. I had just turned 50 and felt like I had been on Mr. Toad’s wild ride at Disney in terms of the crazy life experiences that were sent my way the prior few years, the largest of those being my mother’s passing. So there was a lot of introspection on my part leading up to this new year of 2018. I had to get me back on track, both physically, spiritually and mentally.

For the physical part, I began moving again and I found aerial yoga, which I attribute to my back and neck being pain-free for the last two years. For the spiritual part, I began a dedicated, regular meditation practice. These have helped me tremendously and each require their own blog post but the one commitment I made for my mind had the most impact on raising the quality of my life – I decided to make conscious decisions and choose to do those things or be with those people who bring me JOY! And I mean ALL decisions of where to go, what to do, who to do it with, every day I weigh in with myself and ask myself, “Would it bring me joy to do this right now?” If not, I consciously choose not to participate. If I feel like more joy would enter my life then I consciously choose to go with the flow and see what life experiences come my way. And I use this question for everything from what to cook, when to cook it, when to clean, when to work on my business, when to do absolutely nothing, when to binge watch some tv, when to hunker down with a really good book, you get the idea. There was one last really big weed in my mental garden that I extricated.

Kayaking the Chassowitzka River, one of Florida’s many spring-fed rivers.

That weed was a singular word that I banished from my vocabulary – the word should. More often than not, that word is associated with guilt or criticism and I decided that it no longer serves me. Instead, I think in terms of what do I REALLY want to do at this moment, every moment. Since January 1, 2018, I have invited more joy to manifest in my life by making conscious decisions. I’ve never felt more fulfilled or happier than I do today. I still do things that I don’t necessarily love to do but I do them when I have the mental and physical energy to devote to them. Taking care of myself has become my priority and because of that, I have more to contribute to my reality. My new personal mantra is ‘I feel light! I feel free! I feel great! I feel me!’.

So here’s your challenge:  Make JOY a priority in your life at all times. Take ownership over that fact that you are in control of your life, no one else.  Choose to be with those people who fill you with joy!  Choose to do those things which bring you joy!

Namaste!

Heather aka Indigo Girl