“Joy” is a word that’s been coming up strongly for me lately. I’ve been meditating on the concept of joy, and how to embody it more deeply.

Because joy feels delicious.

Joy feels abundant.

Joy feels like a warm glow through your body, radiating out into the world.

Make a conscious choice to focus on joy versus lack, scarcity, or fear.

Why?

Because we create more of what we focus on.

Simple as that.

Here’s the best news, my friends:

YOU CAN condition your focus.

With intention, you can CHOOSE to focus on joy, on gratitude, on love.

It’s easy to lose sight of joy, abundance, and all things radiant when we’ve taken a few hard hits…especially when those hits have come in rapid succession, and it feels like you’ve spent way more than your fair share of time face down in the ring.

It’s easy to focus on lack, on what’s gone wrong, on the negative stuff. It’s easy to focus on the lies our Gremlin voice whispers to us.

That’s the path of least resistance – simple negativity bias.

I’ve been as guilty as anyone, and I’ve also seen the power of intentionally focusing on JOY.

Let me be clear: it doesn’t mean we ignore negative events or feelings. You know I’m the first to say how important it is to honor our pain and heal in a productive way. I don’t subscribe to the misguided notion that you can “positive-power-through” anything because that can quickly lead to bypassing our emotions which is bad news bears (see: Scar Tissue). Ummm, ok, this is a whole other can of worms, so let’s save a deeper dive into that for another post.

My point is: it’s not mutually exclusive. You can CHOOSE to focus on joy even through the darkest times, because training your brain to focus on joy resources you to navigate the hard stuff with greater alacrity.

And don’t “wait until” to be joyful.

You know that one well, right?

“Until I find my true love”, “until XYZ is over”, “until ABC happens”, “until I make more money”, “until I sell the business”…until, until, until.

NOPE.

That’s backwards.

Be joyful in advance.

Focus on the joy you can find right now, in this very moment. Condition it into your life, and watch positive shifts occur.

I challenge you to 30 Days of Joy.

Start a “Joy Journal” and jot down anything that brings you even a modicum of joy. And I do mean anything! No spark of joy is too trivial to include.

I’ve shared one of my lists below. This is a POWERFUL exercise to shift your state, raise your vibration, resource yourself in challenge times, and call in MORE of what you want to feel.

(And as you can tell from this photo, coffee is one of the things that brings me IMMENSE joy.)

Sparkle on, friends…💖

JW

🌼 Daffodils

☕️The first cup of coffee in the morning

📱A sweet text

🐶My puppy, fresh from the groomer

😻Late night kitty snuggles

 🥬Farmers markets

 🍐A really juicy pear

😂Funny memes

🧘🏼‍♀️Really great back bends

👯‍♀️Brunch with a girlfriend

🌊The sound of rushing water

🏡A clean house

🛁A luxurious bath

📚Books…all the books!

📞Phone calls with my best friend

🌟Sparkly everything