When you experience joy, it is truly unlike any other emotion. There is such a sense of freedom and clarity that comes with it, and the purity of the emotion brings peace and a sense of ease.
If we could feel joy in every moment, what a wonderful life it would be!
What stops us from feeling this way? Mostly it is the expectation that things should be different than how they are at the moment. There is a distance between where you are and where you wish to be.
If you could find joy in just being alive, then each day would be a success as soon as you opened your eyes. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful feeling?
In each moment we choose how we want to present ourselves to the world. We can be joyful or miserable, and it doesn’t have to be dependant on outside forces.
We have the power to choose our thoughts, but at times we allow them to control us, assuming a form that can be tortuous.
It is ludicrous to allow the thoughts that occur within our minds to drive us crazy, but we often feel that we have no control over what we think.
By becoming more aware in each moment, we can begin to take back control of how we think. This is one of the most important things you can do to regain happiness and find a sense of peace.
Thoughts can be challenged, changed, dismissed as nonsense, or stopped completely when you become conscious of them. This is what is learned through meditation. You control the thoughts, not the other way around.
Most of what we tell ourselves isn’t even true. We make assumptions about things that have no basis in reality. We assume that others are thinking in a certain way, or that something good or bad is going to occur, or that we are stuck where we are with no way out.
We tell ourselves stories constantly and mostly they aren’t supportive of our dreams or of the ability to be joyful.
For some reason it is human nature to think of worst-case scenarios. While this can be somewhat useful as a survival mechanism, it can also be debilitating when taken to extremes.
Worry is just story-telling that is framed in a negative manner. You can change the story and begin to think of the best-case scenario instead. Either way it is just a story, each one as untrue as the other.
To always assume the worst is to torture yourself from the inside out. It in no way prepares you to act in a constructive manner; instead, it can actually be quite paralyzing. We can literally worry ourselves into taking no action for fear that the worst could happen.
What if we always assumed the best? Or what if we stopped making assumptions at all?
Go within and really notice how you feel. Use your inner wisdom and guidance to chart your course in life. Be present and aware to what is actually occurring as opposed to living in your mind and imagining things that aren’t even happening.
Become present to life and you will be able to respond to every circumstance no matter what it is with clarity and ease.