The Joy Factor

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The Joy Diet

Posted by Michelle Goss on October 2, 2010 · 3 Comments 

This post is the continuation of A Moment of Grace, describing my journey from despair to breakthrough.

Since that breakthrough, my thoughts and attitudes towards my body have radically changed. The mean-spiritedness and disgust that pervaded my relationship with my body are virtually gone.  Of course, sometimes I still think some of the old thoughts (i.e., “You need to loose 10 pounds by tomorrow!”);  but I can’t take them seriously.  Only a crazy person would.

Another wonderful thing happened: buried in the rubble of my past relationship with my body, I found a positive memory and experience that is fueling my new life.

Flash back to 1992:

Pregnant, I feel free in my body for the first time.  Unconcerned with my weight, I am proud of my growing belly.  I eat in alignment with what my body needs by really listening.  This is a foreign but welcome practice.  I marvel at the cellular and systemic intelligence that it requires no bullying or trickery from me.  I feel a truly joyful partnership with my body!

This memory inspires me and leads me to the present-day Joy Diet.   One based on partnership and rooted in love.  It requires that I slow down enough to really listen to my body (and not my mind’s idea of what my body wants or needs!).   I regularly ask, “What will bring me the most joy?”

Sometimes it’s exercise such as biking or walking.  Sometimes a nap, or sharing a bowl of ice cream with my husband.  This joy diet is powerful and real only when I’m in the present moment — rather than pining for a smaller dress size in my future.  The result is a profound sense of happiness.

How humbling and ironic that all those years when I was chasing happiness in a dress size … all along it was patiently waiting for me, right here.

What do you suppose is waiting right here for you?   My invitation to you is is this:  for the next 30 days ask your body this question and follow its true answer:

What will bring me the most joy?

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Cleaning Out the Fridge

Posted by Wendy Watkins on October 1, 2009 · 4 Comments 

cleaning-fridge-773214On this first day of October, I am amazed how time is moving by with grace and ease these days.  Each day is full of so many delicious things. Some days I am able to get everything done and others there are “leftovers” for me to enjoy from earlier in the week. A few targets that I have set for myself have slipped by, including writing a weekly blog entry this past month. Yet, just as the air is different this morning, cooler and crisper, I am treating myself different. I am cooler.  I feel more peace and trust, truly knowing that everything is happening the way it is supposed to. As I continue to do my best everyday, which to me means to consistently check in with myself and make sure what I am doing feels good. If I am not in a place of expansion, of feeling good, feeling alive, then that is not the time to move forward on a particular activity.

Over the last couple of weeks, my plate has been very full with so many delicious items. There have been lots of leftovers. As I was ”cleaning out the fridge”  and some of the items were on the edge of stinky,they needed to be completed. I was at the breaking point so to say, that edge where I knew that if I did not shift my energy, this was not going to be fun anymore. There was one part of my that just wanted to plow through and get it done. I knew that if I did that, when Matt came home from work , he would not love the woman he was coming home to and I would not love the woman I was. I took a breath, changed my clothes and went for a bike ride. All it took was an hour of doing something that fed my spirit, to shift my mood and allow me to finish what needed to be done later that evening.

I love when I remember to honor myself; my soul’s calling to be me and conciously choose the life I love.

Anyone want to come over for leftovers?

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If You Could Choose Anything, What Would it Be?

Posted by Wendy Watkins on July 13, 2009 · 3 Comments 

optimism_previewLast week I asked Julian how he was doing, and he said “Great!’ I said, “What makes you great?” and he said, “Because I choose to be!” What a concept! Today I will be joyful, happy, in a good mood . . . however you want to say it.

Think about how much time you spend getting ready to go to work, or plan a vacation. Do you take nearly as much time to consciously choose joy? Simple, yes. Always easy? Depends. It is like starting to work out at the gym, flexing new muscles. You are starting to flex your ability to choose joy. It feels awkward at first, yet the more that you do it, the easier it will be. Now I am not saying that you can move from depression to joy just because you choose to. However, I am saying that you can always choose to feel a bit better that you did a minute ago.

Abraham talks about the “emotional guidance system” we all have and shows us how we can use our thoughts to consciously move us up the scale, noticing where we are putting our attention. Put your attention on where you want to be, not where you are. That is where we keep getting more of what we already have!

When you have some clarity around where you are going and consciously choose joy, you are on a special journey. This is when all of the lights are green and the parking spot right in front opens up for you. I love when my parking goddess is with me, which is always—ask my friends—they will tell you. Why? Because I expect it! What are you expecting? What are you choosing? Be conscious, be joyful, be fabulous. You are!

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