Find Joy in Every Day: Happiness Is a Choice
One of my clients recently asked me how to find joy in little things, and in people and processes she doesn't particularly like. I had to spend time reflecting on why I'm so joyous and how I'm able to find joy in the smallest things. What I determined is that feeling joy is a choice I've made. I never wanted my abusers and the numerous disgusting people in this world to steal my joy from me. I considered practicing joy and being happy when others tried to steal it from me as an act of defiance and made me feel like I was winning the battle.
What I realized is that finding joy requires practice and when practiced often it becomes a habit and doesn't require much thought. But if not practiced for a period, the habit can be broken. In my mid-twenties I experienced a particularly severe bout of depression. I can easily say that happened not just because of the circumstances in my life but because of what I was focusing on. I stopped focusing on the beauty in every moment and when that happened, I could only see the devastation surrounding me. It wasn't until I changed what I was focusing on that I was able to get out of the rut I was in. Getting out of that rut involved starting to practice gratitude and finding joy in every moment again.
It still happens to me today. I can tell that whenever I experience a bout of depression, overwhelm, or any other type of undesirable feeling, it's because I haven't been focusing on the "right" things (e.g., what I have to be grateful for, something beautiful in every moment).
All we ever have is this one moment. Paying attention to each moment as if it were our last can completely transform the way we experience life. I detail the tools I used to transform my life after my traumas so you can do the same in my book, Transformation After Trauma: Embracing Post-Traumatic Growth. Sign up here to begin reading the Introduction and Chapter 1 for free: serotinouslife.com/transformation-after-trauma-book
If you want to read or listen to the full book, you can find the ebook, audiobook, and paperback on Amazon: amazon.com/dp/1950336204
I hope you are able to find something beautiful in your day today, and every day.
