What is it?
Here are some key thoughts that I love about JOY and GRATITUDE:
- Happiness is tied to circumstance, but joy is in our spirit.
- Marianne Williamson says, “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.”
- “Practicing gratitude invites joy into our life.” Brené Brown
- Sometimes we get so busy waiting for the big moments, the extraordinary things…that we miss all the little twinkle lights of joy that are all around us.
- "We are a nation hungry for more joy because we are starving from a lack of gratitude.” Lynne Twist
- Having an intentional, daily gratitude practice is the way to invite joy into your life.
Why does it matter?
At the start of 2020, before we knew there would be a pandemic, I chose JOY as my word of the year. I had no idea in that moment how that word and my gratitude practice would save me in such a difficult year. My commitment to myself was to end each day reflecting on the twinkle light moments that happened each day. The simple moments; the ones we often overlook. A smile from a stranger, a delicious warm chai latte, an unexpected hug from one of my kids, a sunrise, a deep belly laugh over one of my dorky jokes…there are so many moments. I wrote them out every single day, and at the end of the year I compiled them all into a book. That simple practice shifted joy from something I looked for to something that became part of who I am. I live with a joy filled heart. Not because life is easy, but because no matter what the day brings…I intentionally look for small moments of joy. At the end of 2021, I will have done 730 consecutive days of JOY…and I don’t think I’ll ever stop. Ending every single day with a focus on what was right and beautiful and kind in my day is truly amazing!
