One predicted trend for the next year is making space for joy.
There will be increased interest and focus on prioritizing and cultivating a mindset of joy.
How much would your life be improved if you made space for joy?
Would you be calmer, and more present with your family?
Would you be more resilient when it comes to challenges at work?
Would you be friendlier, more agreeable, and have more harmonious relationships?
To make space for joy, here are some things you can do:
1. Clean out your space
To make room for something new, you need to get rid of whatever is in its place now. There is a great analogy about needing to move your old couch out of your home before you bring in your new couch.
This is making space for something newer and better by letting go of the things that are no longer serving you.
You can do this with your physical space by cleaning out your closet and junk drawers. You can also do this with your mental space by letting go of old thought patterns that are no longer serving you.
Take an inventory of what is going on around and intentionally decide on what you want to keep with you for the new year and what you want to let go of.
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2. Spend time doing something you love
Taking the time to pick up an old or new hobby can be a great practice for cultivating joy. By doing something that you love, you can engage yourself in new and creative ways that feel good.
By taking the time to do something that you love, you will spend more time automatically in a state of joy.
3. Practice the feeling of joy in your body
Making space for joy in your life will lead to other positive outcomes as well. But, it is not always easy to feel joy or to sustain the feeling of joy.
When you feel unadulterated joy, it can bring a sense of foreboding. Brené Brown calls this foreboding joy. It is the familiar pattern of being uncomfortable feeling joyous because of the fear that is it not going to last and something bad is about to happen or that the other shoe is about to drop.
By making space for joy, you can practice holding the feeling of joy for longer and teaching your body that it is safe to feel this way. This way, you will be able to feel joy for longer periods of time and be able to enjoy the feeling of experiencing joy instead of being fearful that something will happen that will take the feeling away.
4. Reminisce about times in the past that you have felt joy
One way to experience joy now and also get your body used to feeling joy is to remember times in the past when you have felt joy.
By recalling those memories, you can re-experience the joyous feelings in your body and you can practice feeling joy without the fear of what will come afterwards.
5. Honor Your Decisions
Making space for more joy in your life by honoring your own decisions. Take some time to think about what you want, why you want it, and get to know yourself on a deeper level so that you can be more comfortable making decisions that you truly want.
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This means listening to your desires for your life instead of doing what other people want you to do or doing things out of guilt or obligation. By doing things that you want to do and honoring your own decisions, you will naturally feel more positive emotion in your life which will help cultivate joy.
A Final Note
Joy is a feeling that is currently available to you right now in this moment. My hope for you is that you take these suggestions and find a way to make space for joy for yourself this year.
