Getting Comfortable with Joy

How comfortable are you with feeling joy?

I know that question might seem silly, and you may be thinking, ‘Of course I’m comfortable with feeling joy’.

The truth is that most of us aren’t.

From a young age, we’ve been doing things on our own, proving our worth with effort, and feeling like we have to cross one barrier after another.

We are comfortable with struggle and effort.

When things in our lives start to slow down, when we finally reach our biggest goals, when we have everything we’ve been wishing for, we often don’t know how to enjoy it all.

This was definitely true for me.

After a divorce, 2 nursing degrees, single motherhood, and maintaining a home with an acre of land on my own, things changed for me.

I found my life partner and I created the integrative practice of my dreams.

I had someone to help me care for my home, support me in motherhood, and help me with all the things it takes to own your own practice.

I had love and support from many angles and my patients were thriving.

I basically had, “it all”.

Yet, I found it hard to enjoy it. I couldn’t get comfortable with the joy.

I realized that my comfort was in struggle, effort, and proving myself.

When struggle is our norm, the brain receives its reward from more struggle. We feel good when we accomplish things, when we defeat odds, and when we get more done.

Reward doesn’t come from things like rest, play, pleasure, and joy.

When we want more joy, happiness, and satisfaction, we have to reward these things in big ways. We have to retrain our brains to look for more of these things rather the opposite .

If the only reward your brain gets is from struggle, you may be unintentionally creating more of it so that your brain feels safe and comforted.

If you want to get more comfortable with joy, you must reward yourself for it.

Relish in rest.

Delight yourself with pleasures when they come your way.

Savor every bite of delicious food.

Do more happy dances when things are feeling good.

Get used to good feeling emotions and allow them to flood your being.

If you want more joy in your life, you literally have to allow it.

You have to make it comfortable.

Schedule an appointment now or consider joining my signature, transformational program, The Flourish Way™ Experience for guidance on feeling more joy in your life!