As of today, it has been 42 days since I lost my brother… Why the Chair of Joy™ helps me feel better. What happens when we focus on feeling better? What if we actually trust what science says; when we focus on what we want, we get more of what we want. Do we want to focus on mass shootings, 322 so far this year at the time of this writing? Do we want more Veterans taking their lives, 22 committing suicide daily? Do we want more gun violence, domestic abuse, kids with anxiety, and suicide among our teens? OR do we want to focus on feeling better to get more of what we really want? Perhaps you have heard of the condition called cherophobia? It is the fear of being happy, and it is a real thing! Of course, there are a myriad of physical and psychological symptoms associated with cherophobia, but ultimately it is a dopamine blocker and leads to things like depression, despair, sadness, and misery. These are all synonyms avoiding feeling better, and not prioritizing what we want, which for most, is to feel better and feel joyful. We have a cyclical society of feeling bad, rotten, stressed and overwhelmed. It is always, a different season, different reason to be a mental and emotional wreck. Are we addicted to turmoil as a society? If dopamine is the “feel good” hormone, and stress and trauma lower dopamine, why do we often sulk in those negative feelings and forget to choose positive reinforcements that help us “feel better” about work, life, and creating balance? In contrast, we are often denying the opportunity to invite good feelings into our lives! For me, it feels like I am currently in one of those trenches, and to be honest, as a usually optimistic person, optimism and feeling good are feelings that are hard to find right now. As of today, it has been 42 days since I lost my brother, my best friend, my nest-mate. It has been hard to smile. I sometimes feel myself resisting a smile, even avoiding it. I don’t feel like I am allowed to have joy in my life right now. Somedays I feel like a zombie, or a robot, just going through the necessary motions to keep my head above water. I miss him so much. My heart breaks for his kids, his wife, our mom. This sucks. It is the absolute worst and I want everyone to know. Toby was a hard worker, a carpenter by trade, with a new business on the rise. He loved talking, to everyone! He was naturally an optimistic person and didn’t judge anyone. He had a diverse and extensive friends list and was loyal to his city, Allentown, Pennsylvania. He loved the outdoors, and above anything, he was so in love and passionate about his family. His three kids and wife at foremost, but also his immediate and extended family. I have been in dark places before and this event takes the cake for the potential to wipe me out, however, I know that mood and emotional well-being are proponents of perspective and a result of choice. I also know that happiness is a lifestyle decision that is often not easy and can be a perpetual cycle of labor, yet, is so entirely worth it. I want to pay attention to my choices. I know it is important to my brother that I feel better. I have made the decision that I am going to choose the light in life and focus on feeling better. I know my brother wouldn’t want to see me live in sadness. He always wanted the best for us and he would be disappointed if we let life pass us by and choose to drown in sorrow. I have to think of ways to give myself permission to feel better on a daily basis, even moment by moment, even without my brother being on this earth with me. I understand that happiness is subjective and my personal choices are crucial. What a successful day of feeling good is for me is wayyyyy differently than it might look to you. The same thing goes for our triggers. We all shape our perspectives based on our individual experiences. Each one of us has unique criteria and a rating scale to measure our own levels of joy. According to a world happiness report, as of 2017, the average rating of happiness on a 0 to 10 scale was 5. To add fuel to the fire, some studies suggest depression influences elevated levels violence. We can improve these statistics and calm down feelings of desperation and loss. We all have our moments, our days, and our seasons. It is going to happen because we are emotional human beings. Not many of us are prepared, we are not armed internally to face those times. We must work individually AND collectively to build that armor, our suits of survival. Our minds are our most powerful muscle, and it is often the one we neglect to build a relationship with. Our mindsets and core values are the key to having more of what we want. They shape how we live, feel, and treat others. It can affect our progress or be the cause of regression. We are affect all areas of our lives. Most importantly it can help us navigate uncertainty and overcome many of our deepest struggles. Recently I had the opportunity to learn about the Chair of Joy™. My Chair of Joy™ came with simple instructions on how to become more self-aware of my emotions – and when I want to feel better or feel more of them, I am drawn to sit in my Chair of Joy™. I got comfortable in my Chair of Joy™ and by doing that act alone, I already felt better. I go through the 4 easy steps, literally in few minutes I am empowered to begin again and not linger in
The FIRST Children’s Chair of Joy™ By Sheryl Lynn and Melissa Morgan “The Children’s Chair of Joy™ changes the way children are raised, therefore it changes the world.” Sheryl Lynn Remember when you were invincible and dreams came true every other minute? Life was fun, playful and filled with possibility, and light. And now, we wake up each day and it is possible we let our circumstances and surroundings influence this dreamy life. We know pain and suffering from all angles. Of course we have days that are sprinkled with occasional joy, we sort of know what this feels like, but not really. What we do know for sure is that we all yearn for more light, more joy and many of us make a valiant effort daily to figure it out. What if there is a way to take hard work out of this process. What if we could bring back that excitement, dust off that imagination, and open the gift of JOY at any moment throughout the day? Remember when you were a child and your imagination was your superpower? You could build wildly cool stuff with Legos, color outside the lines, take trips to the moon with your storybooks and simply be free. It was easy then and it can be again. I remember when I was young, an extremely joyful little girl with laughter spilling from my heart and a twinkle in my eye. I loved riding my bike, playing in the sandbox, and pushing Tonka trucks with my brothers. We had many days where it was just us and the sprinkler in the backyard on hot summer days. As the joy and innocence of childhood slowly faded and blurred into checklists and to-do tasks, most of us eventually are transformed into responsibilities and adulting. Unfortunately, in today’s society, this is happening to our children at a very early age. The stress and turmoil in today’s world are affecting our children; leaving a large wake of suicide and mental health and behavioural issues in its path. For me, it all started with a broken nose during a friendly game of baseball. The trauma of that experience slowly dissolved my engaging spirit. It took me 40 years to get back to remembering this feeling. Years of personal development work, and I was relentless because I believe that 8 years of zest for life was still inside of me. Today’s children are experiencing traumas like never before. What if we could shorten the recovery time, to bring them back to feeling good and knowing the language of the highest calibrated emotion on the planet, joy? Would it be possible to bring them back to a place of self-love, peace, and light? When they are in charge, empowered and in control of knowing joy, they can identify the pain, give it a name and release it in mere moments instead of years. That is the power of the Children’s Chair of Joy™! Chair of Joy™. A simple experience where you sit, breathe, think, and feel. This Chair of Joy™ begins to produce a connection with your inner self. Soon this self-awareness turns to healing. This healing makes it real, to know that you get to feel better, and even joyful more often during the day. Chair of Joy™ is so profound, yet simple enough for a child. You see, your Chair of Joy™ can be wherever you are because once you know the secret, you can go to this place often and create the experience anywhere. When I was gifted my Chair of Joy™, I discovered this space to be quiet and still, where my thoughts eased me into recognizing that I am in control, I am the center of my life and in this return back to my thoughts I can transmute the pain of an experience using only my thought patterns. I wanted to do this again! I wanted to return to this powerful space inside of myself. Fast forward to the current time and we have now duplicated this experience in over 50 cities and thousands have sat in the COJ including children. The Children’s Chair of Joy™ is revolutionizing the mental health and wellness of our children. Gone are the days of shame, punishment, and isolation of the “time out” chair. When we can teach our children that a positive mindset can come from the process of sit, breathe, think, and feel – in fact, we are giving them the coping tools and strategies needed to return to joy. What a gift that is. A gift that many parents and child advocates have not had. The vision is that this cycle of children’s joy can be shortened and even maintained when they, parents, teachers, and the village that raises these children to develop the language of joyely, a vocabulary, and focus on this emotion of joy. We are already seeing the profound results in children and parents who have adopted the Chair of Joy™ into their daily routine. One homeschooling mom said she is using the chair of joy in her daily school curriculum after experiencing how it instantly transformed her daughter’s negative mindset about a difficult assignment into a positive, “let’s try again” attitude. The large, yellow bean bag chair has now been transformed into her child’s Chair of Joy™. This is now where she goes when she wants to take a break, read a book, imagine, and create. She thinks of times she has felt joy and recreates that joy into her current state. This is a game-changing experience for children and parents alike. And that is why we joyfully have partnered with Kid’s Revolution WorldWide! Kids Revolution’s mission is to empower our kids to be confident, intelligent, emotionally balanced, and happy leaders. Kids Revolution Worldwide and JOYELY are presenting the Children’s Chair of Joy™ (COJ) during the May 2022 USA Tour. We don’t have another minute to waste. The introduction of The Children’s Chair of Joy™ to every school, hospital, recreational center,
More and Bigger Fish from the Chair of Joy™ A few summers ago, I was sitting on the side of the lake in a lawn chair, fishing pole in hand. I had a bobber at the end pole, a larger worm on the hook. A fellow fisherman chuckled to his friend about my “bobber” indicating that real fishermen use bait and lures. The minutes turned into hours. I have spent years gathering stats and statistics and researching the emotion of Joy, and all of that is on our website, so do visit our site. Let me just say, that fishing day was one of the best days of my life. I sat in my lawn chair, breathed in the beautiful fresh air and thought about memories of joy over the years, and felt every second of those moment in my whole being. It was a lovely afternoon. Even amidst the chaos of my day, and in the back of my mind, knowing the large workload I had, not to mention, laundry, shopping, … I leaned into this fishing moment. I knew, trusted, and just let go, and put all my efforts toward having an epic fishing day. This was an important moment, I was unclear why, but it just was. I hauled in fish after fish, catch and release of course, and my friends to the right, the ones doubting my bobber, caught only one. This is our time, this very second is another one of those moments for each of us. As a people, as a world. This is our Moment. I am asking you to lean into joy. I am asking you to lean into your own Chairs of Joy, to know that each of us all has a lawn chair as I did at the lake, or stool on the deck, a chair we love somewhere in the house or office overlooking the backyard or city…. The moment is to realize that joy must be a priority, to know how powerful each and every one of us to this movement of the Chair of Joy™. That we can create impact and results by self-regulating how we are feeling and knowing that ALL these emotions and tears of Joy give us strength, together as a human race. Chair of Joy™ Experience has shown thousands how to leverage the emotion of joy to squelch some of the chaos, worry, fears… Chair of Joy™ Experience. I invite you the learn about what our community is doing at JOYELY. I invite you to embrace the Golden Light Tour and the Chair of Joy™ Experience in a community near you. I would like to meet you and share the profound transformations to discover what’s possible for you, your life, our families, your business, employees and companies of all sizes as thousands of others have done already. Cease THIS moment and join me by perhaps hosting an event on the Chair of Joy™ Golden Light tour from May 1 to May 23, 2022. Please sit in my fancy white Chair of Joy™, listen in, learn, share, post, tell us about YOUR Chair of Joy™ and your Chair of Joy™ stories. Everyone is invited. Perhaps you want to catch more fish or realize personal and professional growth, whatever the thing is that you are after…know it is way more possible through joy and the COJ Experience. I invite you to get fully engaged with us and know this is OUR moment This is our time to get real with what our duty is and why we are on this earth. To know that our work and impact is in the world is important, to show our children how to grow up with a new language of Joy. Together we can fully master the Chair of Joy™ Experience and use it for change. Want to join us? Then pull up a chair. It’s time for JOY! Website – www.Joyely.comTikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@chairofjoy? Tell us what you know about JOY for the World Joy Report: It’s time to immerse ourselves completely in the conversation of joy, to prioritize it above most things.. There’s no time to wait; it’s a matter of life and death. Your Answer Matters! Take The Survey Share Your Experience Leave Us a Google Review We invite you to share your valuable experience. Your feedback not only guides future guests but also illuminates our path towards excellence. Please take a moment to leave a review and help shape our journey forward. Leave Us Review
The Joy of Storytelling Joy is something that every person understands. Whether you feel it is present or not, it has been experienced in some form by every human. The challenge, it seems, is how to find joy when you are feeling its lack. Finding joy is not always easy. In my keynote sessions, I teach that to live an extraordinary life, awareness and action are required. These basic concepts are often hard to initiate, but continued practice means life becomes richer and more meaningful, with positive impacts on the world that is your sphere of influence. And now, a simple means to find joy is available to each and every one of us. Chair of Joy™ allows us to take action and sit, breathe, think, and feel and uncover joy that may not have been otherwise visible. Recognition of joy brings joy. The challenge, of course, is the awareness. Starting a new habit, in this case, the Chair of Joy™ practice, requires awareness. Your personal Chair of Joy™ practice may be triggered in many ways – from feeling a negative moment, to walking past your own favorite Chair of Joy™, to setting a reminder on your personal electronic device. I reached to my storytelling to find a way to trigger my Chair of Joy™ practice. I realized that each joy triggered was, at the least, a story trigger. I built a list of each of the joys I have experienced in my Chair of Joy™. As a bonus, I included a very arbitrary number from 1 to 10 to measure how I felt before the practice and after, resulting in an understanding of my personal Joy Lift. When I teach storytelling, joy comes in several forms. One one hand, there is the joy of the storytelling itself, the response from the audience, and the impact on people. On the other, finding stories that express joy is an amazing experience. When looking for triggers to write a story, my Joy Lift list is available. Most teachers and coaches of storytelling will include the basic tenet that personal stories are key. If you are a keynote speaker, for example, your message will be strengthened by personal stories. Your personal Joy Lift list can be a source to trigger stories to deliver your message effectively. I do have a prominent link to my Joy Lift list on my phone and my computer. I use an icon that indicates this link is a delightful experience – for me, a golden heart. Once I click on that link, it ensures my awareness level is high, and I can take the Chair of Joy™ action. One of the side effects is that when I see something resembling that icon, my awareness is triggered and I often take that opportunity to sit, breathe, think, and feel. What is your awareness trigger for your Chair of Joy™ practice? Trevor Perrytrevorperry.com Want to join us? Then pull up a chair. It’s time for JOY! Website – www.Joyely.comTikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@chairofjoy? Tell us what you know about JOY for the World Joy Report: It’s time to immerse ourselves completely in the conversation of joy, to prioritize it above most things.. There’s no time to wait; it’s a matter of life and death. Your Answer Matters! Take The Survey Share Your Experience Leave Us a Google Review We invite you to share your valuable experience. Your feedback not only guides future guests but also illuminates our path towards excellence. Please take a moment to leave a review and help shape our journey forward. Leave Us Review
HOW TO CREATE JOY IN YOUR LIFE! When you think about this question, you tend to find simple answers like; laughing, being with your loved ones, seeing a cute animal or similar moments like these. In fact the day-to-day life that most of us live is completely opposite of enjoying these simplicities of life. Think about your day. You plow through the day at work. You strive to gain attention, belonging, and even acknowledgement. In your heart you might believe that a job title will give you that feeling of joy as described above. Is joy a concept that is one day or someday? Perhaps a car or house you want to buy is on the list of finding joy. A new relationship is exciting or a quality partner would be nice, now that would bring more joy, right? Unfortunately however, even those amazing things when obtained can give you a sense of happiness, maybe a fleeting moment of joy, and that feels good for a while. Will they last for more than an hour, a day or a week? Do you believe that these accomplishments can provide you with sustained joy, a joy you can count on each day, day after day? Today, I am going to share with you a few things you can practice everyday to find your inner joy and keep it alive for a longer period of time. And even when things turn upside down, you can find your back again and again, quicker and easier. There is a movie called Inside Out, and the main character is JOY! I recommend you watch it very soon. In the movie, 11-year-old Riley, a seemingly bright happy young girl for the most part, is a hockey player living in Minnesota. She is going along in life fine, making friends and working on finding her independence. Suddenly her world turns upside-down when her parents decide the whole family is moving to San Francisco. Riley finds herself lost and isolated. Riley’s emotions are led by JOY! Joy, a carton emotion works Riley’s other emotions like sadness, anger and fear. It’s a cool movie, I won’t tell you what happened, but do watch and discover why the emotion of joy is really everything to your well being. Why am I telling you about this movie? I felt for a long time that I was that character Joy in my own life. I was trying to be happy all the time and stay away from all those negative feelings even though I knew I had to feel them. You see, one of my roommates pointed that out to me one day. In 2017 I was living in Los Angeles with a lovely roommate named Firozeh. I was going through some tough times in my life but I was still pretending that I was happy and everything was ok. Of course she knew my life wasn’t ok at that time and one day she couldn’t help herself and said lovingly to me, “STOP! You are not happy, you are not ok. I want you to sit down today and watch this movie “Inside Out” you’ll see that you are the JOY character. I am going out and by the time you finish the movie, I will return.” I watched the movie. I burst into tears after a long time while watching the movie. I found myself in that character JOY like Firozeh indicated. When Firozeh arrived with a cup of ice cream for me, she said “Here’s a treat honey, NOW you are fine.” I learned that we have to feel EVERY feeling to be able to move through life so we can move forward and receive all that’s good for us. Guess what, the emotion of joy is always within us. We only want to take care of ourselves and allow ourselves to feel whatever is in front of us. Knowing how we can call joy into our lives whenever we want is super empowering. Here are seven (7) steps that I found that works for people to create inner joy on demand: Find a place Sit and be still Close your eyes and take deep Breaths in and out Think of some good memories that from the past Feel those memories in your body! Make a list what you are grateful for Put your hands on your heart and take another deep breathe in and out Open your eyes and look around with a new perspective Are you ready to be the creator of your own joy? You have the power to have more joy in your heart on your daily basis. You are the controller of fear, disgust, worry. You are the JOY in your life, just like the movie! Burcu OnaranelSenior Producer, JOYELY LLC Want to join us? Then pull up a chair. It’s time for JOY! Website – www.Joyely.comTikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@chairofjoy? Tell us what you know about JOY for the World Joy Report: It’s time to immerse ourselves completely in the conversation of joy, to prioritize it above most things.. There’s no time to wait; it’s a matter of life and death. Your Answer Matters! Take The Survey Share Your Experience Leave Us a Google Review We invite you to share your valuable experience. Your feedback not only guides future guests but also illuminates our path towards excellence. Please take a moment to leave a review and help shape our journey forward. Leave Us Review
The “Chairlift” of Joy A few days ago, my son and I had our first day of skiing for the week ahead. I had a lot on my mind (a lot). I found myself going back to the chair of joy. (Sheryl Lynn, Pull Up A Chair, It’s Time for Joy ). Here’s how it played out. Step 1: close my eyes. Take a deep breath. Hold it. Let it out. For 60 seconds. Step 2: think of Joyful times in life. My wedding day, the birth of my children, skiing, etc. After just 3-4 of these joyful thoughts, the chemicals in my brain shift, and I’m out of negative thinking into positive. It’s day 3 now, even though a few other challenging situations have come up, I’m in my happy place. And when I feel the waves grow, I go back to the chair of joy (physically or mentally) it’s the same for me. Suggestion: having a bad day, week or year? Raise your frequency. Then listen what God has to say to you. The “chairlift of joy” Want to join us? Then pull up a chair. It’s time for JOY! Website – www.Joyely.comTikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@chairofjoy? Tell us what you know about JOY for the World Joy Report: It’s time to immerse ourselves completely in the conversation of joy, to prioritize it above most things.. There’s no time to wait; it’s a matter of life and death. Your Answer Matters! Take The Survey Share Your Experience Leave Us a Google Review We invite you to share your valuable experience. Your feedback not only guides future guests but also illuminates our path towards excellence. Please take a moment to leave a review and help shape our journey forward. Leave Us Review
Now Is The Absolute Best Time To Sit In Your Chair of Joy™ It was during undergrad, and I was visiting the home of my closest guy friend, Dan. Normally, his house was bustling with family, but this was a rare instance of quiet while everyone was out. The day was warm and sunny, and the French doors were open into the great room allowing the sunlight and breeze from the west to fill the space. We were making lunch—an enormous and gorgeous salad of fresh veggies and beautiful avocados plucked right from the tree in the backyard his father planted himself. We didn’t bother with plates or place settings. Dan set the salad bowl with two forks in the center of the wide, tiled countertop and we both hopped up there, sitting cross-legged, with the salad between us and proceeded to devour it while chatting about who knows what. That was one of the memories conjured while sitting in my Chair of Joy™. The essence of that moment, and the memories which surfaced with it of my enduring friendship with Dan, was delight! My heart glowed warmly as I remembered our adventures in college and beyond. Warmth spread from my heart, up into my head, down the lengths of my arms and legs, into my fingers and toes. That delight, that joy, filled me up completely.This has been my experience with the Chair of Joy™ (COJ). This has been my experience with the Chair of Joy™ (COJ). “What is the Chair of Joy™?” You Ask. When Sheryl Lynn, founder and CEO of JOYELY, introduced the concept to me, it was such an easy “yes”. Can I sit in my COJ several times a day, have my SIT DOWN practice, and see how this impacts my day, the decisions I make, and my moods? Yes, absolutely! The essence of the exercise is simple: identify a chair in your home or it could be your favorite bench in the nearby park as your Chair of Joy™, a place you love to sit and BE; sit down and take some deep breaths and invite a joyful memory to surface. Allow yourself to see and feel that memory in its fullest detail. Make contact with the joy you felt then. Now, allow that joy to fill you up. I mean, who would say “no” to such an experience? Therein lies the hidden jewel of the COJ. On its face it seems like an incredibly simple practice which doesn’t ask much of you other than to sit, breath, think, and feel. Little did I know (and you will discover the same) that this simple little exercise is wholly transformational. The Benefits of Chair of Joy™ Once I began sitting in my COJ on a regular basis, I noticed shifts in my life from the subtle to the profound. Sitting in your COJ can shift your mood and mindset to a more positive place. Generally, I’m an optimistic and happy person, so the COJ enhanced that while energizing me and improving my mental clarity. It upleveled my creativity with regard to meal planning. My diet consists of the same basic food groups from week to week but with greater creativity, I began combining ingredients in new ways, creating absolutely beautiful, healthy, and delicious meals. My body totally rejected the leftover frozen pizza I had in the fridge for those times of absolute laziness and opted instead for a much healthier meal of seared salmon with sauteed vegetables. The reason for all this is that accessing your feelings of joy elevates your energy and your vibration. Everything, everything, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g is made up of energy. You. Me. That tree. The food you eat. It’s all energy and energy manifests in frequencies. Our emotions are energy (Emotion = Energy in motion) and they, too, have frequencies. Shame, anger, and jealousy are some of the lowest frequency emotions, while love and joy are among the highest. David R. Hawkins wrote about it in his book The Map of Consciousness Explained. Hence, by sitting with your most joyful memoires a few times a day, you are immediately raising your frequency to the highest levels. This not only lifts your mood but energizes your mind, body, and spirit! Since beginning my practice I need less sleep. Sleeping less was by no means a goal, nor is it necessarily something I’m ecstatic about as I’m one of those people who loves my bed and loves to sleep ????. But I cannot refute the evidence—my body simply doesn’t require as much sleep as it did. One of the most compelling side-effects of having a SIT DOWN practice in your COJ is how it impacts and elevates the way you relate to people. You can’t sit in resentment, hostility, or fear if you’re operating from a place of joy. Well, I suppose you still could if you really wanted to, but it would take some effort (and why would you want to?). I had an incident arise at the tail end of the Global Joy Symposium in December 2021 in which I received an upsetting notice. An email came through that I was being charged for a service I did not authorize by a company I’d worked with some months prior. As we had a written contract spelling out the terms of our business agreement and as they were now acting against that contract, a flash of anger ran through me. I stepped away from the symposium for a minute to respond to this email. I could feel myself about to fire off a hotly worded letter in protest, but then I caught myself. I took a breath and thought, “Come back to your place of joy”. Instantly, I was back in that open-hearted, uplifted space. From that place, I wrote a calm and rational reply to their email pointing out their mistake. Their representative responded immediately apologizing for the error and assuring me it had been corrected. Satisfied with the resolution, I
The Origin of Joy: What happened? What happened? Well, I think we have lost sight of what joy is, to some extent. We search for joy all around us, living in a state of frustration because the world is not giving us what we need, when really, Joy is not something to be found but something to be realized within. For most of my life, I associated joy and happiness as one and the same; they were synonymous to the best of my knowledge. But what I recently learned is that happiness and joy are, in fact, not the same, and the way that these two concepts are used interchangeably, as our world continues to do, has made it difficult to truly know one from the other. Here is the breakdown: Happiness is a feeling, typically provoked by something that happens to us. Happiness is ultimately an external experience and lasts temporarily. Joy, on the other hand, is a choice. Joy is a conscious commitment we make to embody enjoyment, gratitude, inner peace, and/or contentment for what exists in the present moment. Presence is key. Joy is a place inside each of us, a state of being, acting as a reservoir, always present if we choose to access its beauty and energizing power. “Joy is the dynamic aspect of Being.” – Eckhart Tolle If joy is inside all of us and is solely an aspect of Being, it would make sense that joy has existed for as long as humans have existed. The origin of joy lies within the origin of humanity. But then I wonder, why does it seem we are experiencing less and less joy in our current culture? Where is the joy in depression rates spiking, suicide numbers climbing, and epidemics like obesity, heart disease, and cancer as common diagnoses? What happened? The evolution of technology and industrial advancements have had an impact on the decline in joy that we perceive around the world. With digital technology steadily blending itself into the human experience, people are constantly being fed images of what a “joyful” life should look like through TV shows, commercials, advertisements, social media influencers, etc. Joy is disguised everywhere as something we should be looking for outside of ourselves, so what do we do? We acquire all of the ingredients that we’ve been told will create a perfect recipe for a joyful life. We experience happiness, but only for a moment in time. Many of us soon return to states of frustration, irritation, stress, and depression even though we have acquired the things that have been advertised to us as JOY. Then where is the joy? From the outside, many people seem to have everything they could possibly need! But what about on the inside? Put simply, joy is something we will never obtain out in the world. Joy is not found in the bigger, better, shinier, and sparklier things IF the intention is to achieve joy from acquiring these things. Joy is not a means to an end. These aspects of life can inspire great amounts of happiness, but they don’t actually bring JOY. We bring joy into these aspects of life. We are the origin of joy. “Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you.” – Eckhart Tolle When I first read this quote from Eckhart Tolle’s book, “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose,” I had to re-read it multiple times. The statement, “Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you,” reframed my understanding of joy, especially in the materialistic, consumeristic world we live in. We have lost sight of Joy’s true essence and origin, and I believe that is why we are looking for it in all the wrong places, thus, experiencing higher levels of undesirable life situations and dangerous health conditions. Joy is an internal experience, not an external experience. Joy is being present and enjoying what you have, what you do, and all that is. The world does not provide Joy to us, we provide Joy to the world. Joy is in everyone; it’s international! There are studies conducted such as the “World Happiness Report” and “Happy Planet Index” which both measure happiness across the world based on the Gallup World Poll, which is the most comprehensive and farthest-reaching survey of the world, tracking human development worldwide. The World Happiness Report gathers its research based on six main factors, including levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and corruption. The Happy Planet Index gathers its research based on wellbeing, life expectancy, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint. Observing the data from all categories, the Nordic countries typically rank in the top ten out of all countries in the world, according to the 2020 World Happiness Report. These reports focus mostly on external circumstances and conditions of living which equate to certain levels of happiness. This caught my attention! If I move to Copenhagen, Denmark will I be happier, more joyful? If my goal to move to Copenhagen was to experience a happier life, moving would be a means to an end. Going where happiness is said to be will not make me more joyful. Why? Because Joy is an internal experience and happiness is an external experience. You don’t have to move to the Nordic countries to experience joy. You can travel anywhere in the world and bring your joy with you, because you have the power to allow joy to flow into all that you do, be it in luxurious travel, buying a new car, a beautiful home, designer clothing, or any material goods. Joy flows in the present moment, in true enjoyment of all that is. Joy is not something to be found or achieved, but something to be realized and chosen. This is a movement, as people become aware of their own power to cultivate this inner joyous
We’re Inviting You to Join Us What is JOY? JOY is a serious business, if you want a fulfilling, successful life, then prioritizing JOY is essential. It might be time to say no to some things and YES to Joy. Happiness… Bliss… Feelings of abundance… That is how we define it.But how many of us actually experience it in life?Not many, I assure you. There are times when a lot of us will say we are happy or this is the happiest day of my life but in reality, it is not. Not because they are lying and are not happy but because that happiness is mingled with several other emotions. Someone gets their dream job after struggling for years. That person is ecstatic but at the same time is scared of disappointing people or doubts if they deserved that job. She is being proposed by her boyfriend. She is excited and happy but at the same time, she wonders if he is the right one. If he will stay by her side forever. He sees her walking down the aisle. He is overjoyed but at the same time he is nervous and ponders over the question, Am I worth it? All of these scenarios are relatable. So, how many of us have truly experienced joy? Can we say that we have been truly happy and have not ruined the moments by second-guessing things by thinking about the future? Can we say that we have enjoyed a moment without caring about anything else? The majority of us will say No. And that is sad. Some might say depressing. But it certainly doesn’t mean that we can’t do anything about it. But at the same time, doing something doesn’t mean that we have to do luxurious stuff. “I have found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.” – J.R.R Tolkien And that is the key to find joy. When we start feeling happy and satisfied over small things, then and only then, we find the joy and peace within ourselves. And to feel peace and joy within ourselves is life’s ultimate gift for us. In today’s world, it can be challenging. For most people. “There is not enough time.” My question is: What kind of time do we need to smile at someone while crossing the road? What kind of time do we need to help someone carry their groceries to their car? The simple acts can make someone’s day and you can experience joy. We have to find passion and create a life in which each day is meaningful, enjoyable, and experience. To do that, you have to determine what’s most important to you. Do things that make you happy and make you appreciate life. Planning long term goals is necessary. It helps you focus on defines you as a person. But true joy comes when you don’t forget to celebrate the small achievements as well. A promotion at work, your baby’s first step, a new house, a chance meeting with your friend while crossing the road. Celebrate and appreciate those moments. They will help to sustain long-term goals and will empower you to achieve them as well. Take out time for yourself a few minutes every day or a few hours every week, no need to plan a whole lot. Just enjoy your coffee on your balcony, taking in the view every morning counts as well. Or find something meaningful to do. Volunteer or join a support group. Anything positive counts. So, just smile and think good. It wouldn’t happen in a jiffy. Get started to do a little everyday and make you feel joy with JOYELY Community! Always Remember : “Each drop collectively makes an ocean.” Living and experiencing a life of Joy is easier when you surround yourself with joyful people. At JOYELY, we welcome you to visit our JOYELY Community. Want to join us? Then pull up a chair. It’s time for JOY! Website – www.Joyely.comTikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@chairofjoy? Tell us what you know about JOY for the World Joy Report: It’s time to immerse ourselves completely in the conversation of joy, to prioritize it above most things.. There’s no time to wait; it’s a matter of life and death. Your Answer Matters! Take The Survey Share Your Experience Leave Us a Google Review We invite you to share your valuable experience. Your feedback not only guides future guests but also illuminates our path towards excellence. Please take a moment to leave a review and help shape our journey forward. Leave Us Review
