How to become a little more Joyful
Few moments of Joy can really make our day. We can carry out our daily chores with ease and we don't have to let out our frustration on someone. Most of us take the help of music, social media, books or TV to get the experience of joy. These are all temporary and many time diminishing in providing joy. Therefore we should look for more permanent sources and create an inner atmosphere of bliss.
Accepting Joy as our true nature — Today we accept that our reactions are natural ways to live. If we get angry when someone did the wrong thing, we justify and accept it as normal behaviour. This is an easy escape as the responsibility is now on the other person. We blame others for our miserable nature and become helpless.
How about taking control of our emotions in our own hand? We should accept that we are happy souls and any negative emotion does not have a place in our life. We will still face external situations which will disturb us but we can always choose what goes inside us. This will take time but simple reminders will help. Let us remind our self every day that “I am a happy soul. I will face some moments where I will forget this but soon I will come back to my joyful nature.”
Whose loss is it anyway? — This has helped me a lot. Whenever I am thinking about the past events that made me angry or sad, I remind myself as whose loss is it anyway and every time I get the same answer. I was at the loss at that moment in the past and I am at the loss in the current moment when I am thinking about it.
I am responsible for not being joyful in the present moment. If I can create sadness and anger, then I can also create the bliss. I am the only one who can turn my loss into profit. So every time you catch yourself overthinking on past, ask yourself “Whose loss is it anyway?”
Less resistance — I have experienced so much peace and joy within me after using this technique. Many things we do that we do not want to do or do not accept, but we still have to do it. Every time we do such activities, we feel friction or resistance in our mind. This is not conscious action but it creates automatic reactions.
For, e.g. household chores. We drag our self to daily chores and do it with long faces. Similarly, we have many such activities at work. Many of us are stuck in a job we don't like but we have to do it to earn money. Why should not we do it without any resistance?
Resistance occurs when our mind is somewhere else and not in the current activity. The simple reason is that we are not enjoying what we are doing. The current moment is inevitable. We will not be able to change it. We can change the next moment but the current moment is unavoidable. Instead of fighting we should embrace it and should be joyful.
The major reason for such resistance is that we are always expecting some level of fun or pleasure in activities we do. We are dependent on external sources here. Reading a book or painting might give better pleasure compared to washing utensils.
If we remove the expectation of pleasure and realize that all the source of happiness is within, then we are joyful in activity we do. Now I don't have any expectations for any kinds of emotional returns. I am free. It is very obvious that you are more joyful when you are free.
Getting the right start — Our morning defines how we experience our entire day. It is very important that we start our day on the right note. This means no looking at mobile or social media first thing in the morning. Just sit down, keep your eyes closed and give gratitude to God for being alive. Give a big smile for having all that is there.
Simple deep breathing exercise will benefit a lot. Any meditation practices including guided meditation also help. Have a routine of physical exercises like yoga asanas as well.
All these steps are the internal ones and do not need any external objects. Once you start practising this, you will feel a sense of ease within you. You might not get the feeling of ecstasy but you will definitely experience a little more joy.
