11 Simple Ways To Joy
1. Eat ice cream, and eat it like you mean it. None of that dribble-free, napkin-clutching, super-fancy adult stuff. Gobble! Lick it like cats lick their paws while sprawling in a beam of sunlight. And if someone gives you a weird look, don’t worry. They’re just mad because they forgot how to be a kid…:-)
2. Dance to your favorite music. Don’t control your moves, either. You’re not here to impress a panel of judges, you’re here to have fun and relax. So throw off your shoes, cram a CD into the player, and let your body tell you how it wants to flow. You’ll feel happier afterward, I guarantee it!
3. Arrange your important things into two seperate drawers. One is your gotta-do drawer, into which you’ll throw your bills. You can only open this drawer once a week to deal with its contents; the other six days, don’t even think of it. The second drawer is your happiness drawer. This one should hold your favorite pictures, letters, Christmas cards, movie stubs, poems, or anything else that brings up good memories. Open this drawer every morning, pull out one random item, take a look at it for at least one minute, and let the good feelings prepare you for an awesome day. Try to add at least one wonderful new thing to this drawer every week.
4. Read your children a bed-time story. Dress the part, and let the kids interact, as well. Your son could roar each time a fierce dragon appears in the story. Your daughter could bat her eyelashes each time the blushing princess says something. Whatever you do, just have fun!
5. Make a home-cooked meal and leave the dishes for the next morning. Afterward, lounge on the couch and watch your favorite movie. Munch on left-overs without feeling guilty.
6. Call your best friend and start the conversation with, “I was just sitting here thinking, and I wondered, what’s your favorite memory of all time?” Listen intently to the story that follows and bask in the warmth of its afterglow. This is a gift for both you and your friend!
7. Go the zoo or museum and rediscover the wonders of the world you live in. Look closely and with abandon. There are things you never noticed before, and which you’ll only see if you leave your adult-glasses at home.
8. Decide to let go of an old hurt. Try to recall exactly what happened, then ask yourself if it’s really worth holding on to. You’ll find that 99.9% of the pain we hold on to is just baggage we drag around out of sheer habit, or because we’re too proud to let it go. Release the negative within and firmly tell yourself that you don’t want to be a slave to your past any more. Do this at least once a month.
9. Write an actual letter to someone you love. No e-mail. No text-messaging. I’m talking pen and paper. Put it in an envelope and mail it. Look forward to when it reaches its destination, and when it does, take joy in the surprise you’ve created.
10. Compose a list of ten things you want to accomplish before your next birthday, or any other holiday you celebrate. Each time you accomplish something on your list, mark it off and smile, knowing that you’re teaching yourself to create your own future.
11. Teach yourself something new. Come on, I know there’s something you’re just dying to learn! Just don’t make it an obligation or let it become a pressure. Make the time. Enjoy. That’s what learning is all about.
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