How do you balance finding joy in your simple routines in the midst of the cares of the fast-paced everyday life?
Whether you’re busy with a life that is buried in the heart of a bubbling cauldron on fire, or you’re having anxieties due to the multiple tasks you’re saddled with, you could still cultivate joy in the smallest ways.
Here are 10 unbelievably simple ways to live a life laden with joy, peace and softness, to avoid the stresses and anxieties associated with the fast-paced life of making an impact in your career, excelling in school or whatever learning environment you may find yourself, and/or having to seamlessly run a home.
- Live a life of gratitude
Research has found that starting and ending your day in gratitude makes you a happier person.
Start each day with a note of gratitude for the things you have and even those you don’t, paying mind to even the smallest details.
Happy people are detailed.
Take the time to ponder on the things that happen to and for you. These are your positives and negatives. Express gratitude for the good the positives bring you, while doing same for the lessons the negatives teach you (when you have understood their purpose in your life).
When you have taken the time to reflect on the positive aspects of your life, hold on to them and proclaim them all the time. Your focus will automatically shift towards the positive, infusing your life with a speck of joy.
- Inculcate mindful practices
Incorporating simple mindful practices into your life can be incredibly fulfilling.
What are those activities that set your soul on fire and require your full attention? Bring them to life.
Whether it’s writing, gardening, reading, painting or playing a musical instrument, immersing yourself in the present moment with your deepest passions and savouring the joy that comes with it is a simple, yet effective way of infusing a little more joy into your life.
- Cultivate meaningful relationships
How fulfilling are your relationships?
The relationships your keep, especially your close relations, should mirror you. Nurture the relationships you share with your loved ones, bearing in mind that they won’t always be there, and neither will you.
Spend quality time with family and friends who bring out the best in you.
Engage in deep, meaningful conversations when the need arises.
Have the small talks also.
Sometimes, you have to spend time with your loved ones doing nothing. Let the silence sit between and among you as you think about the enormity of the gift that their life and/or presence is to you.
Building valuable connections with others has been found to create immense joy and a calming knowing that is fresh and alive, and birthed from the gift of belonging, not just the requirement of fitting in.
- Practice random acts of kindness
Did you know that performing an act of kindness gives you the same amount of joy it does the receiver?
Research has shown that random acts of kindness have the same effect of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphin on the giver as they do on the receiver.
These hormones are called the DOSE of Joy for a reason, after all.
Performing acts of kindness goes beyond the receiver and extends to you the giver. This is how: think of throwing a ball to the wall.
Did it bounce back to you?
Certainly!
Whether it’s passing a warm note to a loved one, or giving a kind compliment to a stranger, or extending a helping hand to someone, or volunteering for a worthy cause, or surprising a relative, friend or loved one with a thoughtful gesture, spreading kindness has a ripple effect of joy on all parties involved.
- Embrace mindfulness and meditation
In the book of Joshua (Joshua 1:8), the believer is encouraged to keep the Word of God in their mouth, and to “meditate in it day and night”.
Incorporating mindfulness and meditation into your daily routine helps you become more aware of your situation, and gives you hope and courage to go through the tough seasons. The result is reduced stress, fuelled by the cultivation of a sense of inner peace and joy.
Set aside a few minutes each day to quiet your mind with the Word of God, to achieve the highest sense of peace and calm in the everyday.
- Find joy in simple pleasures
Take pleasure in the little things that fuel joy in your life. It could be as simple as savouring a cup of coffee, brewing and enjoying a cup of tea in silence, reading a good book, enjoying a good movie, teaching your children, getting involved in the lives of your loved ones, etc.
You can find joy and give meaning to your life by finding pleasure in these very simple everyday tasks, to enhance your overall happiness.
- Bring laughter and playfulness to life
Laughter and playfulness are powerful tools for cultivating joy.
To inculcate the very simple task of laughter into your life, bury yourself in humour: watch a funny movie.
Listen to the endless chatter of little children.
Spend time with people who make you laugh.
Avoid the company of those who always complain. Energy is very contagious.
You can also make yourself laugh hard. The truth is, you’re the funniest person you know, but until you try to be light on yourself, you will never know how amazing you are at cracking your own self up.
You’re not as old as you think you are, so release yourself from the burden of acting right or acting your age. It is one of the reasons you’re stressed and anxious.
Be silly.
Let your inner child loose.
Make time for activities that allow you to be yourself and be the child you’ve always been. Remember, your happiness is more important than your need to be right.
- Practise self-love and self-care
Taking care of yourself is essential for cultivating joy, but first, love yourself.
Before we go into the topic of self-care, lets first talk about self-love. These two concepts, self-care and self-love, they’re two different things.
Loving yourself means knowing your value. It means setting high standards for yourself and living by those standards. It means showing kindness to yourself before you extend that offer of warmth, of essential succor, to another.
It also means being clear on what you’re willing to tolerate and the things you just cannot take. It means setting and enforcing boundaries about your life to protect yourself from your own harm and other people’s harm.
When you have done the above, prioritise self-care activities such as taking a relaxing bath, eating a home-cooked meal, taking the trash out, deep cleaning and decluttering your personal space, indulging in a hobby, drinking more water, getting enough sleep, etc.
Nurture yourself in a positive manner to be able to have more energy and positivity to share with others, keeping in mind that you can’t give what you don’t have.
- Think positive thoughts
Cultivate a positive mindset by focusing on the good in every situation. Do not give in to the wiles of negative thinking, even in the face of adversity and the possibility of failure.
Train your mind to see opportunities instead of obstacles, and practise reframing negative thoughts into positive ones.
Just as the sweet smell and vibrant colours of a flower can lure bees and other insects to the tree, so does a positive outlook to life invite more joy into your life.
- Teach others what you know
There are only a few things comparable to the joy of knowing that someone somewhere is a better person because you exist.
This is one of the things teaching others does for you.
A person becomes a better person as soon as they receive light and understanding to change a situation about themselves. Wouldn’t it be such immense joy knowing that you contributed to making someone a bigger, better person?
Just as we’re often encouraged to share what we have, sharing the knowledge you possess is a beautiful way of not only making the other person better, but also making you better as you also learn in the process, a lot of other things you would ordinarily not have had the opportunity to have learnt or known about.
Cultivating joy in the everyday is within your reach.
By incorporating these ten practices into your life, you can create a positive shift in your mindset and experience more happiness. Remember, joy is not something that happens to us; it’s something we actively cultivate.
Start a new life today and let joy become a constant companion on your journey through life.
