In a previous post we discussed how joy is everywhere, tucked inside of every decision and action we make. Once we begin to recognize how much joy data we have all around us, we can begin to consider what it would mean to aggregate all of this data, examine it, and learn more about ourselves, our joy, and who we are in Whole Self.
Joy is ubiquitous. It hides in plain sight.
We just simply need to look a bit deeper to see it
for all of its incredible value and beauty.
Learning To Examine Our Joy Dataset
When we begin our examination of joy inside of every decision, themes of our joy begin to emerge. How we made a decision, be it a major life decision or something as mundane as what we chose to wear on a given day, is all informed by joy. The themes, as we begin to identify them, are the key to staying consistently and constantly tapped into our joy and Whole Self.
Now, to be clear, every decision you make isn’t necessarily a good one. We know this. Sometimes you pick the wrong clothes and get caught in the rain wearing your suede jacket. Or, you forgot about the big meeting and are wearing a t-shirt. That’s OK, and something you can improve on with experience and changed behavior (i.e. check the weather forecast or your calendar before getting dressed), but it is always informative of you and your joy.
Even when we are doing things that are clearly not joyful, our pursuit of joy is still there. When we yell in anger at someone, that is clearly not a joyful moment. But, why do we do it? When we peel back that moment of rage just a little bit we find that we were acting, perhaps irrationally, but with a hope of getting back to a joyful, peaceful, and/or safe space. We yell because we are hurt and we want to not be hurt. It is our effort, however ingenious or misguided, to get back to our joy.
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
The key to all of this is to begin to look more deeply at how our minds work. What is driving us? What are the themes that regularly reappear or carry across your clothes choices in the morning, your lunch choices in the mid-day, and your TV viewing choices in the evening? As we begin to uncover those themes we begin to dust off the realities of your truth, of your view of the world and your location in it, of your joy.
With those joy themes in hand, we can begin to build models and processes of living. One that our clients especially love is our Trust Factors exercise, which specifically identifies the key ingredients you need to have loving and trust relationships to keep you tapped into your best self.
It is through better understanding of our joy that we can then better align our life with that joy. The better we can make future decisions. The better we can understand ourselves, express ourselves, and create a life that constantly and continually calls us in to being our best, truest, and most whole self. And, like any universal truth, it is ubiquitous, hiding in plain sight, inside of the clothes you are wearing, we just simply need to look a bit deeper to see it for all of its incredible value and beauty.