Finding Joy in your Journey

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to it’s old dimensions!”

I believe that in life it is easy to be focused on an achievement or a goal rather than actually enjoying the journey of experience and beauty that it takes for you to get there…

That may sound a little cliche, so bear with me.  I understand the whole focused, driven, determined, passionate side of things, and I am definitely all of those things, but one thing that I am a little more focused on now more than ever is that I can actually ENJOY my days as I am striving to achieve my goals.  It used to be that I was so focused on the outcome that I was pretty much miserable on my way there.  Meaning that I missed out on so many experiences and most importantly time – especially with my family. I used to be so focused on my career that I wouldn’t want to take vacations in fear that I might not be as good or as successful.  I made a decision about 7 years ago that I would enjoy taking vacations, spending time with my family and let the rest of the stuff just work itself out…the crazy thing is that I found that I was actually MORE successful, AND happy!  I realized that in anything in life you attract good things to you when you’re happy, positive and loving life…and let me tell you, I am definitely loving life.

Don’t get me wrong there are definitely times when I cry because things are hard or things aren’t going my way, and sometimes I just cry (no, I’m not crazy, I’m just OK letting myself be vulnerable letting things go so I can move through them).

 

 

That’s another thing that I discovered – of course the hard way – that I beat myself up for not having everything together all the time…and that is self defeating because the more I fight it, the worse it gets!  So, I get in my car, or just take a “time out” at home, and spend time letting myself feel what I’m feeling, and not telling myself I am weak, I shouldn’t be doing it or even worse that I am stupid for feeling a certain way.  We are all emotional beings, and we all have feelings…the difference is that some of us bottle it up, some let it all out where everyone can see it (sometimes to have others help us solve our problems for us), and some just know how to “ride the wave”.  I am learning to ride that wave, but not only that, I am actually enjoying riding it!

This is one of things that we talk to our kids about all the time – you can either learn how to handle things when they are smaller and easier to deal with when you’re younger, or become an adult that doesn’t know how to problem solve.  I see it all the time and I am guessing you do too…people that are great until they come across a sticky situation and then they turn into mush. Here’s the kicker – they will keep having these situations until they learn how to handle them.  I know for me there is a certain type of person that keeps appearing in my life, teaching me, stretching me, and definitely making me a better person.  I haven’t figured out EXACTLY how to deal with them, but I am starting to recognize patterns, learn from them, and react differently.  It seems crazy to do the same things over and over and expect different results, but I have definitely been guilty of that!

 

So as you can see from this post, you can find joy wherever you are…whether you are doing something you used to do as a kid (like blowing on this dandelion clock that was definitely nostalgic for me), or even just looking for something good in the thing you are doing…it will change your whole experience.  I don’t know about you, but I definitely choose to find joy and beauty around me!

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