Joy to be alive

Start each day with an appreciation for life, and for the joy that it can bring. Stop for a moment to watch the gathering light as the sun begins to appear over the horizon. Step back from the crisis of the moment and put things in perspective. Listen carefully and lovingly to the words of another, and think of what a rich treasure it is to enjoy the blessing of companionship.

So many things bring on anxiety and distress, and almost all of those negative things derive their power from your focus on your self. Focus instead on the joy of being alive. You’ll notice that the more you focus on life’s joys, the less you focus on your own self. And as your focus expands beyond your own self, the anxiety falls away, the pain dissolves, the despair fades and the bright joy comes shining through.

If you reach that point, where life seems empty and meaningless, stop and reconnect yourself with the joy of being alive. Stop and remember what gives you joy — not happiness or pleasure or satisfaction, but pure, beautiful joy. Dig down and find the reasons behind the reasons. Your career, your relationships, your passions, your opinions, your frustrations, your anxieties, your efforts all have reasons behind them. And those reasons have their own reasons. Go back to square one and find that joy, the joy of being alive. Find the joy, feel the joy, allow it to flow upward through all those many reasons and to positively infect every area of your life.

Though your life may be far from perfect, though circumstances may be difficult and even painful, it is a perfectly wonderful joy to be alive. Yes, you can choose to see yourself as a victim, and you no doubt have every justification for doing so. But what will it gain you?

Choose instead to accept, acknowledge and express the joy of being alive. When you do, though the problems and challenges and difficulties will still be there, you will move yourself to a level far above them, a level at which you can effectively and successfully deal with them.

It is a joy to be alive. Let yourself live that reality, come what may. And you’ll come to know that joy more and more.