How To Start?

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Ok, I may have pegged joy to be this profound spiritual journey towards unconditional bliss.

I am sorry.


Wait, I am not sorry because it is not true but because it does not have to be as hard as I may have made it sound.

To begin to be joyful, all you need to do is...

WAKE UP.

Literally and figuratively.

Literally, rise up from bed. Start the day sluggishly if you must, but get out of bed and into the world. There - is where the action happens.

Figuratively, waking up is opening your eyes and listening to your OWN VOICE on what you should work on to be joyful.  It is important to tune in to YOU, because there will be other voices outside that would mess with your head and confuse you and eventually either lead you to do nothing or to overdrive.  Listen to YOU... and continue this journey, tuned in to your own voice.

Waking up does not need to be a one-off.  Daily reflection and calibration to your inner compass is necessary.

Have a truthful conversation with yourself.

Ask yourself:  Am I happy? Do I find joy in how I am right now?  Do I do things everyday that leads me to happily exhausted nights of fulfilling sleep? Do people around me feel joy because  of my presence? Do I have means to rejuvenate, reflect, refresh? Am I a joy to myself?

DO NOT ask the following:  Am I in the right job? Am I still happy with my relationship? Do I need to migrate? Am I ripe for my eat, pray, love journey to find myself?

Why? Because chances are, you will find the same you in a new job, in a new relationship, in a new country or in Paris.  You do get the picture.


WORK ON ONE PROJECT

The answer to the questions you should ask may lead you to check on what is important to you RIGHT NOW.  Again, this does not need to be an all-encompassing answer to figure out THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.  Just think of right now, for now.

What one thing do I work on RIGHT NOW that will have a long term effect on my path to JOY.

I have, in an epiphany two years ago (still working on it now), lost about 25lbs. because I figured my health was giving me sadness. In another bout with gloom, I figured I should stop connecting with people virtually alone and talk to real people and savor their essence over real conversations. One time, my relationship with my father was getting in the way of finding joy.  I decided I should thank him for one thing I remember from the past everyday.

Choose ONE project and let the internal victory from that project cascade to other areas in your life.  It will.

PAUSE, NOT QUIT

Working on yourself will take discipline - that is a given.  However, beating yourself up will not do you good.  Be patient with yourself.  Understand there will be down days. Understand you won't always be pleasing. Accept that you are on a journey and you are not there yet. 

I read somewhere that when you get hunger pangs, that is when you are actually burning fats. When we get cuts, it is when our wound becomes really itchy that you should leave it alone because it is about to heal.  It could be the same with our projects.  On times when things become extremely challenging, when we are ready to throw in the towel, those are the times we should persevere.

Learn to pause, not to quit.  You are probably doing better than you think you are.

KEEP AT IT

Your life is a process.  It is not a sprint, but a marathon.  If it takes a lifetime to be joyful, it is still a worthy pursuit.  Everything worth pursuing takes time.

Begin and begin again.  Cheers to beginnings!

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