Where Is Your Joy? What Are You Hoping For?

: By Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com

Thanks for visiting InnerSelf.com, where there are 20,000+ life-altering articles promoting "New Attitudes and New Possibilities." All articles are translated into 30+ languages. Subscribe to InnerSelf Magazine, published weekly, and Marie T Russell's Daily Inspiration. InnerSelf Magazine has been published since 1985.

break

I've recently come across a card deck entitled the Inquiry Cards. This card deck is very different from all the other inspirational card decks, angel cards, tarot cards, etc. They don't provide an answer to a question the way most card decks do. Instead they provide a question... and you supply the answers from within.

I have been enjoying playing with this deck. I keep it on my desk, and occasionally will pull a card... and of course, it is always appropriate and fits the moment I'm going through perfectly. This morning, I felt the inner inspiration to write an article for InnerSelf. And the next thought was to pull a card and have that be the subject of the article.

The card I pulled was "Where is my joy?" which addressed my immediate situation as I enjoy writing and sharing my insights with readers. I love the messages that come through my fingers on the keyboard, and realize that, most times, they are for me as well as for InnerSelf readers.

And since I tend to want more of a good thing (don't we all?), I pulled another card which asked "What am I deeply grateful for?" followed by "What am I hoping for?" Wow! That's quite a start for a day, for an inspirational reflection, and for an article. So let's move through the questions together.

Where Is My Joy?

While everyone's answer in the specifics may be different for this question, I feel that it is an essential question to ask ourselves. Where is your joy? For me, it depends on the days but then the same themes do keep reoccurring. My joy is in playing in the garden (some people call it working). My joy is in doing InnerSelf. My joy is in following my guidance and my heart... as it always leads me to joy.

Many of us have lost our way, or at least we lose our way during the day or the week. Some people feel that their joy can only exist on weekends, as the week is consumed by work. Joy is sometimes relegated to two days a week at the most!

If we've lost the path of joy, it's because we're on the path of obligations, necessity (or at least what we've convinced ourselves is necessity), tedious chores, "have-to's", security, etc. Yet, if these things do not bring us joy, then what's the point? If you're working 2 or 3 jobs to "make ends meet" and have no time for joy, then perhaps you need to bring your ends closer together (to make them easier to meet).

What do I mean by that? If you're working the 2 or 3 jobs so you can buy $100 shoes... do you REALLY need those shoes? Could you perhaps find more joy in working less and wearing a $25 pair or shoes. Or do you REALLY need the latest iphone?

Could you perhaps find more time for yourself (and thus more joy) in having an older phone, an older car, older furniture, or whatever, so that your expenses are less, In this way, you can create more time for things that make your heart sing instead of giving all your time to "making money" to pay for things that do not REALLY bring you joy.

Are you trying to impress the neighbors, your friends and acquaintances, and in the process leaving yourself behind? Is the approval (or envy) of others more important than self-approval or satisfaction?

So Where Is Your Joy?

So where is your joy? Perhaps in playing with your children or grandchildren? Perhaps in taking the time to prepare a recipe you've never tried before, or one of your favorites that you haven't had time to make for a while. Maybe your joy lies in spending time walking with a close friend, or having friends over for a barbecue or pizza (or just to chat).

Wherever your joy resides, you need to go there regularly... or bring it to you. Make joy a daily habit, a constant presence in your life. In our busy busy world we've often painted ourselves in the proverbial corner by having all these wants and needs (many of them propagated by advertising and social media). We end up being so busy chasing after our wants, that we have no time to simply experience the joy of being. Smelling the roses, looking up at the clouds during the day or the stars at night, taking a walk in nature, spending time playing with children and with friends...

Maybe we could start each day by asking ourselves "where is my joy today?" And making a point of creating at least one experience of joy just because it feels good. And then working our way up to make our whole life an experience of joy.

Yes, you can be joyful at work... by not taking yourself or the events that take place so seriously. Taking yourself (and others) lightly is what will lighten your attitude and your day. See the humor in the challenging events of the day. Imagine you were watching yourself as a character in a movie (a comedy, of course)... What would you find funny in whatever is going on? Would you shake your head at how seriously this person is taking their life when they could shrug off a lot of the things that happen and look for the joy instead.

Joy is a choice. You can choose to be bitchy or you can choose to be joyful. As I'm sure you know, being joyful feels a lot better (not just for you but for everyone around you). So give it a try. Choose joy instead of rancor.

What Am I Deeply Grateful For?

While this question came second, it could also be the first question you address. Finding what you are grateful for can lead you to discover what brings you joy and also what you're hoping for (the third question), or at least what you're hoping for more of.

We might tend to focus on the material things we're grateful for: a job, a car, a house, money in the bank... but the things that bring a sparkle to our eye, that put a bounce in our step, are the things that give us energy and generate joy, laughter, and love.

So what are you grateful for? What makes your heart sing? What makes you sparkle and shine? These are the things that it's easy to be grateful for, yet sometimes we forget to be grateful.

And we also can be grateful for the things that are not so joyful, yet bring us a needed change in our life, or a much needed insight. So many cancer survivors, or people who've had heart attacks, have said that their illness actually was a gift... It allowed them to wake up to what was missing in their life, to what was really important. So each moment, joyful or challenging, is something to be grateful for.

What Am I Hoping For?

The third card I picked asked "What am I hoping for?" We can easily answer that with generalities... happiness, health, well-being, abundance... But in order to attract those things we are hoping for (our dreams, our vision), we need to be more specific.

So what are you hoping for? Spending more time with your loved ones? Having a regular exercise program? Being able to just sit around and read a book? You'd love to change careers? Or perhaps you want to travel?

Usually, we have all kinds of excuses for not doing any of these things... We don't have the time, the money, the energy, we're too young, too old, whatever. Yet, when you get clear as to what you're hoping for, you can then get clear on how to make those things a reality.

A friend who wants to travel has decided to take a job on a cruise-ship for a year. She will get to travel, meet people, and get paid in the process. Another friend wants to change careers yet has not discovered what makes her heart sing. So she has started doing some volunteer work and this may lead her to a new path. Another loves to sing, so she has joined the choir at her local Unity Church, and she's even doing solos.

There are so many ways to realize our dreams. Open the door by being consciously aware of what you're hoping for, and be open to the synchronicites that will come to you.

Get clear on what you're hoping for in your life. Focus on the feelings you want to experience and let your imagination and inspiration guide you to ways to make that happen, without any of the "but I can't" objections that we've been so good at. Let go of all your negative projections and make a list of things you're hoping for... sort of like a bucket list... and start making those things come true. One at a time.

Sometimes the first step is simply doing research online (or at the library) as to the when and where and how... As you get immersed in learning about the project, ways will manifest to make it come true. Do not let lack (imagined or otherwise) stop you from heading towards your dreams.

Go for it! And make joy be your compass! It will guide you well.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

Creative Commons 3.0: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author: Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article: This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.com

break

Thanks for visiting InnerSelf.com, where there are 20,000+ life-altering articles promoting "New Attitudes and New Possibilities." All articles are translated into 30+ languages. Subscribe to InnerSelf Magazine, published weekly, and Marie T Russell's Daily Inspiration. InnerSelf Magazine has been published since 1985.