“The body heals with play, the mind heals with laughter, and the spirit heals with joy.” Proverb

The instructions from this proverb seem so simple. Play. Laugh. Be joyful. The first two are simple and easily achievable, but joy, oh she is far more complex. To be joyful we must first find the joy.

Joy is an emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good, but it is completely specific to each individual. Unlike play and laughter, joy is the result of something or someone creating joy within us and for that to happen we need to not only know what makes us joyful, but we also need to know what doesn’t. As Hamlet would have said, “Ah, there’s the rub.”

For our spirit to heal we need to know what brings us joy. We tend to do a lot of things that don’t bring us any joy. What’s the opposite of joy? Unhappiness? Misery? Sadness? It’s time to make a list of what brings us joy. Don’t just think it—write it down like you would a bucket list. It’s arguably more important. As I said, play and laughter are easy, but joy requires a little more work. When you have your list, get crackin’. Your spirit will thank you!

With a joyful heart,
Beth