I thought this would be a good topic for this time of year, since “joy” is a significant part of the holiday season no matter where you are on the planet. Living life with joy is actually a three hundred and sixty-five (365) day a year venture, but it is more obvious to some during this part of the year.
To be alive with joy is the essence of experiencing life fully, beyond the conditions which we often place on ourselves which need to be met before we will allow ourselves to experience joy, fun, and laughter. It does not have to be that way.
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”
Living Life With Joy — Why Are We Alive?
This is an enormous question and at this time I am not going to get into any great philosophical discussion of the meaning of life, although that is certainly a fun topic. Basically, asking this question of ourselves allows us to dig a little deeper than we normally would into the essence of what makes us tick.
We tend to take so much for granted on a day-to-day basis that we often spend more time on being busy than doing things that allow us to thrive and expand. It is so easy to get into a so-called rut with our thinking and everyday actions.
Without getting spiritual or religious, one explanation for us being here playing this wonderful Game of Life is to discover more about ourselves and identify our key strengths, abilities, and gifts which we possess, whether we may have chosen to develop them at this point or not. These discoveries not only allow us to be more efficient in pursuing our genuine wants and desires, but it also opens up and reveals to us a part of ourselves that most earnestly wants to assist and serve others on their journeys through life as well.
When we reach a certain point of consciousness, it becomes extremely apparent that our individual needs are “Always” met as long as we get out of our own way and “Allow” things to flow. At that point, we are enjoying the process of life’s journey.
When we do this there are no more emergencies, and problems, obstacles, and barriers simply melt away. At this point we are Totally Free, serving with joy, and looking forward to what each day brings us with total acceptance and surrender.
When we surrender to life, life surrenders to us. As the early Twenieth Century (20th) French novelist, critic, and essayist Marcel Proust so wonderfully put it:
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Living Life With Joy — Observing the Circus in our Mind
When we spend the time to Pause and Reflect, and actually Pay Attention to what thoughts are flying through our minds at a rapid pace, we then should not be surprised by the results we are getting and the events we are experiencing. Take a moment now to Relax and Observe.
If you chose to do that even for a few brief moments, you will Consciously experience thoughts and emotions generated by your Beliefs. This is how we create our lives, but unfortunately, we do this mostly unconsciously.
What we are seeing when we open our eyes in the morning, and then throughout the day, are people and events put there based on our experiences, and the beliefs we formed about ourselves, other people, and the world in general. Many of these beliefs were formed during times of trauma and stress, high emotional states which made a major impact, especially when we were young and trying to figure things out.
When something worked to bring us some sort of relief from the scary experience, we remembered that specific incident and then repeated the same response at other times in order to keep ourselves safe in the future. Dependent of the specific experience we formed, beliefs such as “I am capable or incapable”, “certain things are dangerous”, “those types of people are this or that”, “the world is not a safe place”, and “nothing ever works out for me”, etc., we see in our life a Reflection of those very beliefs. This goes on and on and is responsible for our good and not-so-good experiences throughout life.
Now getting back to watching the circus, when we bring all this into an aware state, rather than constantly reacting to things that just supposedly happen to us, we are able to trace back these thoughts and emotions to the source of our true beliefs, and then determine if they are viable to us in leading a fulfilling life. What protected us and served us in the past, may well have outlived its purpose and is now working against our true wants and desires to live an expanding and fulfilling life.
It’s All Good
When we are able to remain present and observe the circus of our mind, we then discover what we are experiencing is all good, as it is All leading us to make the necessary adjustments so that we stay on track to our dreams and goals. Any frustration, anger, or resentment then becomes a guiding light to discovery of the Cause of our misgivings. Once we discover the cause, we are then empowered to make any necessary changes.
Check out one of my previous posts, How To Eliminate Limiting Beliefs, which goes into some detail on how to best discover and identify your true beliefs and then decide if changes are needed.
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To your Expanded Awareness and Fulfillment of All of your Dreams,
Joseph
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Very inspirational post, Joseph!
Thanks 🙂
Thanks so much John. It means a lot that folks can get some value and inspiration to make a difference in their and others lives. We have just forgot how powerful we really are.
Great blog Joseph. I am a fan of Eckhart Tolle and your thoughts on “The Circus In Your Head” really resonate with me. I am practising noticing the circus but not reacting to it, so I try to simply acknowledge the random thoughts and then let them go until I can find a place of peace. I really enjoy the practice of this and I am getting better at it.
Just wondered if you had any suggestions for getting out of a life rut? I’m not sure I’m actually in a rut but it’s a deep hole at best. Sometimes it just feels like the same things day in and day out with not much change or relief in sight.
Your thoughts appreciated.
Thanks Heidi for your kind comments. Our minds are so powerful and it is so easy to buy into the stuff that seems so make sense because “thats’s just the way it is”. The more we observe this nonsense the more it dissolves and eventually we break free from the cloud cover and the sun reigns supreme within ourselves. In the meantime, trust your inner self who is speaking to you all the time, but gets blocked out by the egoic noise. You are Perfect as you Are and quite capable of seeing beyond the illusion to what would really inspire you to Break Free. Then you look back and just laugh at the so called “rut”.
Hello Joseph,
Thank you for your blog post. I do like the title of your blog post as I very much like to be around joyful people and I try and demonstrate joy to those around me.
I liked to start the day off by reading a few devotionals which get me off to a great start. It looks like you are someone who likes to work and take action Joseph, which is fantastic, you’re making the most of retirement or un-retirement!
Thank you for the great inspiration Joseph.
Thanks Roy. I appreciate your comments. I do enjoy being around people who may not have things easy but choose to be joyful and make the most of life.