Building In Daily Moments of Joy

I struggle with gratitude journals. My longest streak is probably 5 days. I just repeat myself over and over. I know many people swear that it helps and it changes their life and spiritually speaking, I understand the power of gratitude. It is how we should live our lives — always.

There are so many gratitude journals but I never see anyone talking about their joy journals. And although the amazing Brene Brown says that gratitude begets joy, I did not experience life that way. Think about the extremely accomplished and famous people you know who end up unaliving themselves. They had it all: fame, money, fortune, talent, love. They had a very long list of things to be grateful for but they just could not feel gratitude. My suggestion is that if gratitude isn’t working for, let’s give moments of joy a try.

Joy is about enjoying the present moment. It is something you need to practice doing. It’s an act of self-discovery to figure out what brings you joy. Many of us think if we can fix ourselves and our pain, all that will be left is happiness. If you haven’t figured this out yet, self-help is one of the largest sections in the bookstore and people are still unhappy and confused.

Where to look for joy:

Recall your childhood

When I was little, I used to catch fireflies and put them in a jar. I think I released them eventually but for a few minutes, these poor terrified bugs lived in a glass prison and now I feel guilty about it. I recently ordered this light that reminds me of the fireflies I used to catch. I bought one for my office and then bought a 2nd one for my bedroom because it just brings me so much joy. Link to purchase: https://amzn.to/3HecZd9

Pay attention to the little things

With joy, I started to pay attention to things I didn’t before. I remember coming across a flower that was blooming. I cannot explain it but I connected with this flower on a molecular level. I found it to be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I even felt love for it. What I experienced was joy. This emotion felt way more intense for me than gratitude.

Build a daily practice of joy

Can you think of things that bring you joy that you can build into your day? Or images or art that you can look at while you work? Or could you take a walk and instead of listening to music and daydreaming about all the things you have to do, start paying attention to people’s houses. I have a favorite neighborhood where I live and when I walk in that area, I think of at least one thing I like about each house as I walk by. It allows me to experience many moments of joy through one walk.

Involve other senses not just your eyeballs

I love food. A lot. I won’t eat things that don’t taste amazing. I’m selective about restaurants I eat at. I once made a friend go to 8 different restaurants before I finally found one I liked. It was such an insane story that I wrote about it in The Huffington Post. When I love a food, it brings me tremendous joy. Right now my favorite meal is wild salmon with Mike’s Hot Honey, my friend’s olive oil from Greece, some salt, bake it at 425 for 18 minutes and arugula, spinach, beets, blue cheese, almonds, olive oil and balsamic glaze. It’s so good I eat it every day for dinner on repeat and no matter what happens in my day, I have the best dinner to look forward to.

One last pro-tip, I recently tried a sensory deprivation tank. This is the wildest experience ever. I thought I’d go nuts but in fact, the opposite happened. I get nerve pain in my back when I’m stressed out. It’s not a good situation for someone who is still a competitive athlete. Meditation doesn’t work for me. These sensory deprivation experiences last between 1 hour and 90 minutes. You really need at least a full hour to get the benefits (I think). It is around the 45 minute mark that something shifts inside of you.

It is the deepest form of relaxation I have ever experienced. Forget massages, wine, s-x, the ocean, yoga, a retreat. These tanks are the accelerated version of anything else you could do and you don’t even need to go on vacation. My nervous system LOVES it and as a result, I’m more relaxed, happier and focused. I even managed to get the first draft of my book proposal done in 3 weeks after working on it for almost a year. It’s magic.

In summary, try to create a life you don’t need a vacation from. I think you can get it done by building in as many moments of joy into your day as possible.