I recently was able to go to a theme park with two friends. I noticed that one of them was noticing every detail, the different colors, the decorations, the beauty of the different places we visited. She basically was having fun everywhere we went! She enjoyed every ride, the colors, the smell and everything around her. It was inspiring to me to see that she was so focused on the good around us.
Meanwhile my other friend didn’t seem to notice those things. She didn’t enjoy the majority of the rides and wasn’t really having fun or enjoying being there. I realized at that moment that many of us really choose which lens we decide to view the world with. 👓
I felt this quote come into my mind.
“The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” Russell M. Nelson
Choosing joy can be hard sometimes. Specially during the times when we’re trying to endure some of the most difficult moments that life has to offer. On some days even the smallest step toward joy can feel like climbing a mountain.
The truth is, that we can honor a wide range of feelings in the span of one day. While moving at any pace, we can choose to move toward that which is one step lighter. So, why not try to practice experiencing whatever we’re going through from a place of higher joy?
Research has shown that although some people are born with a more positive disposition, anyone can reprogram their thoughts to foster more feelings of joy and happiness. Isn’t that amazing?
We can re-train our thoughts to look for more joy. Once we become aware of the negative or repetitive thoughts that keep us distracted and distressed, we can turn toward positive thoughts, trying to focus on the good, noticing our blessings, turning to prayer, looking for the good in the words of God, and adding a few more positive affirmations to break the cycle.
We can be a little more mindful of the beauty around us. The sound of the birds, the wind, the beauty of the world. We can feel grateful for our health and our body and we can have a heart filled with gratitude and joy if we choose to focus on it.
As we practice inviting thoughts of Joy, we will see that these new positive thoughts will become habitual. We will experience life at a higher level, when we can come from a place of focusing on light, joy and on those things that are good and beautiful.
We can also focus on the Joy of knowing that there’s a God who loves and cares about each one of us individually. On trusting that He has a plan for each one of us and all will be ok on the end.
TRUSTING IN GOD INCREASES OUR JOY. ❤️ It changes how we feel regardless of what we may be experiencing today. We can overcome the hardest challenges when we can focus on the Joy that God brings and the trust that we have on Him.
Allow yourself to invite that peace into your life by closing your eyes for a moment, taking some deep breaths and asking God to allow you to feel His Joy in this moment. Notice how you feel. Your circumstances may not change right now, but knowing that God is there, and that you can invite His Joy to be with you in this very moment can bring so much peace to your soul.
Your Joy doesn’t depend on how much money you have or on the “comforts” of your life. Your Joy doesn’t depend on the trips you make and the places you visit around the world. Your joy doesn’t depend on the acceptance of others or how many likes you get. Your joy comes from KNOWING that there’s a God who LOVES YOU. Who knows your every needs and a God whom you can TRUST. ❤️
One of the best ways to invite Joy into our lives is to focus on thoughts that bring us Joy. Whatever makes you feel happier, joyful or peaceful, focus on that. Spend time with people who uplift you, listen to or watch things that bring you joy, add joy to your life daily by doing a hobby or something that makes you happy. Listen to good uplifting music and entertainment. Exercise and move your body & most importantly, fill your mind with the word of God, know His promises to you and allow the scriptures to bring you peace and strength. 💛
God wants us to remember that He created us to have joy! Look at his creations all around, the sun, the sky, plants, animals and all of the beauty of this world is placed here for us to experience Gods peace and Joy. His fingerprints are all around us to remind us of the beauty that there is and that we can find Joy in it. Joy in a sunrise, Joy in a sunset, Joy in the animals, the color of the flowers and all that we get to experience today.
He obviously wants to surround us with things that bring us joy.🌎🍃🦋 We just gave to change our focus and look for them. Even to the point that we ourselves (as the creation of God that we are) can honor Him by CHOOSING TO FOCUS ON THE JOY THAT OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN & OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST CAN PROVIDE.
There’s a quote from President Russell M. Nelson which says; “Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” Think of that! In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth, our Savior focused on joy!
And what was the joy that was set before Him? Surely it included the joy of cleansing, healing, and strengthening us; the joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent; the joy of making it possible for you and me to return home—clean and worthy—to live with our Heavenly Parents and families.” If we focus on the joy that will come to us, or to those we love, what can we endure that presently seems overwhelming, painful, scary, unfair, or simply impossible?..”
We truly can do and overcome all things through Christ who strengthens us. ❤️
How amazing that Our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave His life for you and me, was able to focus on the Joy that will come, while enduring the most excruciating experience. We can try to be like the Savior, we can try to focus on the Joy of overcoming whatever we may be going through right now and on rising above the pains we may be experiencing. We can choose to look for Joy today and to invite the Joy that God has, to completely cover us and surround us.
Here’s an example of a scripture we can focus on.
1 Thessalonians 6:16-18 Says; Rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Psalm 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Joy is an essential part of those who believe in God. Because we know and trust in a God who created us to have Joy. We know that He wants us to find joy in the journey. He wants us to learn to CHOOSE that for ourselves. & I believe that if it comes from the word of God, it’s placed there with love. There is wisdom in the words of God, and I believe that someday He will ask us about how much Joy we chose to focus on in our lives. 💖
When we can feel our connection to God, we can start to see that as children of God, He wants us to experience the ups and downs of life with Him. That we may remember that through it all we can find joy and focus on the opportunity of seeing God amidst whatever storm we may be facing. He truly can become the God of our circumstances. We can strengthen our faith in Him, notice the good around us and focus on joy one day at a time.
Joy isn’t a feeling that is dependent on our circumstances. It is a response to the goodness of God and our eternal salvation. I once heard someone say “Choosing joy has very little to do with how we feel and everything to do with how we obey, how we trust and how we believe in the love of God.” ❤️
Choosing joy is a spiritual practice, renewing our connection with the divine as we become lighter, more mindful and more peaceful. When in alignment with the spirit of God we can relax and trust that all things will be done according to His will. We will trust and focus on our blessings. We will see that we are safe. We are home in the peace of God. And this is who we really are.
God is a God of love and of Joy. He wants us to choose Joy! ♥️ That’s why He sent us here. His purpose for us to learn, grow and experience true joy.
Christ sacrificed himself for us looking forward to the joy that His sacrifice would bring to all humanity. The opportunity for us to repent, to return to Him. The plan of God for us is based on his love and Joy for his children.
We can choose today to be more joyful and to look for the joy in all circumstances that we may be in. That we may focus on the hope & Joy that we can have as we overcome our challenges and difficulties. We can train ourselves to focus on the good, on love, peace and the joy that can come living a life aligned and connected to God daily.
Our goal for the week is to FOCUS ON JOY. We can practice choosing joy in this very moment. We have to PRACTICE feeling joy and inviting more of it into our lives. 💪🏼☺️
Find joy in loving ourselves, in choosing things that bring us joy daily. We can be joyful in your activities. while exercising we can choose to focus on the Joy of doing something good for ourselves. We can choose to be joyful in the moments when we’re taking care of others. Even choosing joy while we clean or do our daily tasks. We can practice it! Even during the hardest times try to see if you can focus on the good. 💛 Try it out, practice it and teach your brain that it’s better to focus on the good than to not 😉 practice it this week and notice how much better you feel.
Finally, in your heart say to yourself: I open my heart to the possibility of joy flowing in my life. I am grateful for the gifts of today. I trust that my benevolent Father has a divine plan for my highest good. I trust in Him and in myself. I choose Joy one moment at a time💛🥰
Hope that you can make it to CLASS TONIGHT AT 7pm. We will focus on releasing stress and also on allowing ourselves to focus on being joyful and grateful for all that we have and are able to do.
Remember that you are your own best cheerleader Morivate yourself to get to class tonight. 💪🏼😝🧡 Next week class will be Canceled. So, let’s do this for ourselves tonight. Love you all and hope to see you there! ❤️
Love,
Lili 🌸
