Joy Is a Strategy Too: The Importance of Protecting Your Peace
It's a risk we take in pursuing this personal growth journey that we may one day reach a time when things have become too focused, serious, strict, routine and regimented. This is when our own good intentions begin to work against us.
There will never be a shortage of ‘shoulds’ in our lives. Those things we should be doing to be better, healthier, more productive, more ‘perfect’. Meditate, drink the right amount of water, filter your water, eat organic, write affirmations, walk miles a day, take vitamins, listen to motivational podcasts, read books, do yoga, stretch, cold plunge and sauna. These are all powerfully beneficial.
But there are more ‘shoulds’ than hours in the day and you can easily be swept away by the things that make you better so that you miss the opportunity to actually enjoy the living experience.
Simplify things. The simple act of creating joy is just as strategic as anything else.
If you feel stuck, let loose. If you feel exhausted, stop fighting for a minute. Allow yourself to have fun for the simple reason that there is tremendous healing to be found in that freedom. Let your breath out if you've been holding it. Relax. Enjoy the sunshine, put your phone down, stop watching the clock.
Such an integral part of being human is providing ourselves with opportunities to smile and laugh, stand in wonder at the world around us or just marvel at what it's like to be alive.
Do something you have never done before. Explore a new area of your life for the sake of adventure. Stagnancy will never serve you, nor will forcing a good thing. If your healing journey feels stuck, if you feel trapped, let go of something. A deadline, or expectation, or desire for something unchangeable to be a certain way.
You will feel a massive amount of energy and power return to you the moment you release your grip on what you cannot change.
Release structure sometimes. Increase play.
It's okay. It will always be okay in the end. Life has a way of working things out for us, but that's only if we stop taking it so damn seriously.
