This week on Jump Start Your Joy, I’m sharing 6 ways to create a foundation for a joy-filled life during the pandemic. It’s no secret that living in 2020 has brought many of the things that we considered foundational to our world into question. Health, school, our work, groceries, equality, safety, and freedom have all come into question as the world grapples with the immense change that COVID-19 has brought with it.
One of the questions I’m getting asked on interviews and from listeners is: how do I find joy now, in the midst of the pandemic?
This week, I’m sharing 6 ways for you to build a strong foundation that has joy built in:
1. What brought you joy as a child? How can you take inspiration from things that have brought you joy in the past?
Find new ways to leverage what brought you joy. It might mean that you need to twewouak something slightly to make it work during the pandemic.
2. Think small. So much of what we’re used to equating with joy are the big things (think: trips, weddings, big holidays with family). With those not possible right now, retrain your eye to look for joy in the small moments you have every day.
3. Focus on what you value in from what I’m calling “bed in a bag” joy, and create more of it on your own. “Bed in a bag” joys are the go to things we all know during “normal” times that bring us immense joy: Disneyland, movies, restaurants, sporting events, parties, etc. I call it this because these are all pre-packaged joy-filled events that in many ways are designed to bring you joy. Much like the “bed in a bag” you’d buy to update your bedroom, everything you need for joy is already included.
What do you value about those interactions and events? (this means: why do they bring you joy? some answers might be: you feel well cared for, they are beautiful spaces, they let you take a break, it’s a form of escape, or you like drinking beer in the sun).
What are some ways you can pull that core value out of the “bed in a bag” event, but re-imagine it for our reality now?
What would make you feel good –is it games that pay real money? Or is it watching nature, opting for a break, or drinking beer in the sun? Whatever makes you happy, do those things now, until we can go back to our old standbys.
4. Joy is not in the big moments, but it’s in all the moments if we just look for it.
It can be as small as buying a golf net from the link to start your indoor golfing journey or can be listening to a favorite song when the clouds start pouring.
Perhaps you find joy in watching your favourite shows or movies. There is a high chance that you are a movie buff.
(Note: It would be a good idea to opt for the best streaming vpn to unblock geo-restricted content and get the most out of your streaming experience)
Anyway, whatever be the source of joy, learn to look for and appreciate the moments of happiness as they show up in your life. The more attuned you become to joy, the more you will see it.
The more attuned you become to joy, the more you will see it.
5. Build in time for joy. For many people, time has taken on a distorted feeling without the same kind of schedule you may have had prior to the pandemic. t’s easy to get lulled into working hard all day and not taking a break. Or, maybe you find that you are relaxing more and days are going by without your being able to name things you’ve done each day.
Schedules help with this. And, it’s important to schedule time in for joy, or happiness.
6. Goodness and worth are not predicated by anything you DO. You’re already good, and you are already worthy.
One of the things that a capitalist society tends to believe as a truth is that:
1. You are rewarded if you work hard (which is also equated to goodness and worth).
2. Material wealth is the proof of your hard work (aka goodness and worth).
When you’re too focused on these two things, there’s not a lot of room for discovering your own joy. Instead, you’re relying on that material wealth and the things you buy or do with wealth to provide the joy.
The thing is: Joy is an inside job, and it stems from love. When you start from a place of believing that you are already good and already worthy, then you can grow a foundation of joy.