3 easy tips for adding Joy to your world
Living life! It's become a cliche. But that's for a reason. It's true. Today my nephew and my older sister share a birthday. These occasions are such a delight to celebrate with family and friends and I thought I would do a post about actively putting happy moments into our busy diaries. They serve as a fantastic tool to reduce or stabilise stress chemicals, enable recharging for the next challenge and they are not hard work. Triple benefit!So here's my top 3 tip list of adding joy to your world:
1. Make plans with friends and/or family for their birthdays and DIARISE!
Most people would appreciate this gesture. It can be a picnic in the park; a cinema trip; a lavish home-cooked meal; bowling; a night in the pub. Anything that ensures (a) your friend feels special and that will being it's own calming joys; (b) you are likely to stick to the plan (c) you can let go, have a laugh, be silly, have fun, etc when you are together
2. Go to a stand-up comedy night / rent DVD of one with (or without friends)
Laughter is actually a great medicine. From what you may have read on the site and know already, you know laughter instigates the parasympathetic system. So if you have a favourite comedian, book to laugh with them, live or with friends and a DVD... you'll all feel better and have a few jokes and comebacks of your own! I know, I know... you should be up there on the stage with the stand-up comedy... go for it!
3. Collate pictures of achievements you are proud of and also of new goals
There is a special joy that comes from really accepting an accomplishment. Sometimes that doesn't happen straight away. And often we don't spend time looking back and reflecting on an achievement. It is easy to minimise success in ourselves. Compile photos of these, or representative ones, add new goal photos when you get a chance look at them... see yourself for what you are. We are what we have done. And that can include making your old neighbour smile, who might otherwise be lonely and sad. Take a picture of her. That's your stardust that brought the smile!Enjoy my top three tips. And I wish you all the success and joy in the world
