choosejoy

Steady Your Course

Steady Your Course

Are practices like meditation, mindfulness, and yoga meant to make you more happy?

I get asked this question a lot and I recently saw a similar question posted in a Facebook Group.  In some ways the answer is both yes and no.  As we become more self aware and choose our thoughts, we naturally will feel more happy because we are more aligned with what we want.   However, expecting happiness all of the time can undermine the intentionality we have developed in our lives because the unexpected moments of discomfort are inevitable.  

Joy Tip Wednesday: Dedication + Discipline = Change

Joy Tip Wednesday:  Dedication + Discipline = Change

Dedication and discipline have been on my mind a lot these days.  How they seem to be the boat that steadily carry me through the inevitable ebbs and flows of life.  Here's the thing.  Some people think I'm utopic.  That I don't live in reality because I'm such an optimist.  I'd say in fact it's the opposite.  Precisely because I realize reality is not a utopia, I know my dedication to optimism will carry me through.

Joy Tip Wednesday: Cultivating Opposites

Joy Tip Wednesday:  Cultivating Opposites

Happy Wednesday!  Today I'm reflecting on the power of cultivating opposites.  Exploring the crevices of our being that are not as easily understood, connected with, or comfortable.

I believe all of us are whole.  All of us are multi-faceted. All of us have the beautiful qualities that we observe in others, in ourselves.  The practice is perhaps learning how to connect with those qualities in an intentional way...

Joy Tip Wednesday: New Is A Choice Away

Joy Tip Wednesday:  New Is A Choice Away

Commitment continues to be on my mind as a central focus for 2016 for me.  I've been thinking about commitment and how sometimes the idea creates a sense of dying freshness in my mind.  Like the old farm house that is falling apart and about ready to collapse, but damn it you are committed to holding onto that old piece of history.  Of course that is pretty ridiculous.  Commitment doesn't have to mean that the grass grows burnt and the floor boards loose their lacquer.  Because in any moment we can plant more grass or re-polish those floors. Newness is a choice.  And sometimes I forget.  For this week's Joy Tip Wednesday I want to invite us to practice newness...

Embracing the Mystery

Embracing the Mystery

"God, I'm doing that thing again!"  I exclaimed to my coach on a recent call.  "Why do I do that thing?! And why can't it just go away?  I don't get it.  I see it, I know it, but yet, here it is again."  We were talking about a pattern that I could see, that I know well, and that I couldn't quite leave.  This strangely familiar and annoying pattern of thought and behavior had me wanting to crawl out of my own skin.    "Maybe you don't need to know the why," my coach said to me.