Bring back the Joy

Over the years, as we take on more responsibilities, work, family and navigate our way through life, we can sometimes lose the joy and spark of our youth.  We can get sucked in by others that gradually chip away at our joyfulness. I know I have experienced this.  I used to be a lot more adventurous, outgoing and playful, but as I have grown older, settled down, become and wife and mother, and had a good career, a fair chunk of that has worn away. Like anything else to relearn and cultivate more joy in our lives we need to practice it every day.

If you don’t give something your attention it has absolutely no power of you.

If you ignore the critics, the snidey comments, the naysayers, those who seem to know better, the negativity and negative people around you, you are less likely to experience it, allowing more room for joy.  If you don’t give it your attention, you don’t experience it.  There’s no need to get involved in social media rebuttals, simply block, delete or ignore. There’s no need to get sucked into a pit of despair from constantly watching the news.

I had a case just this week where I read what someone had posted on a Facebook group that wound me up. For about half an hour, I kept going back to the post to see if anyone had made further comment.  It had actually made me quite upset and ready to throw the towel in. I was expecting a further onslaught from everyone else who may have had an opinion one way or the other.  Then I remembered that my reaction to it was my responsibility and why should I let someone else, who has no idea what’s going on in my world, ruin my day.  I made a conscious decision to ignore it. There was one further comment made by the original poster, and a couple of likes but no one else seemed to have waded in, so I decided to move on.  I did actually feel much better for not giving it my attention when I would have previous festered over it and worried about other people would be saying.  I chose to ignore and move on.

This is not to say that we should ignore everything we don’t like that’s going on around us, not bury our heads in the sand, or take responsibility for our words and actions.  It comes back to the point I have made before about how you choose to respond and how much of your time and energy you want to give to something that ultimately gets you down and evaporates your joy.

My favourite ever band, Duran Duran, have recently released a track called More Joy, here’s what they have to say:

“I know where this is going (more joy)

I’m looking at you

I like where it’s going (more joy)

Are you coming too?

I know where this is going (more joy)

I’m looking at you

I like where it’s going (more joy)

Are you coming too?“