What is joy? Can we always be happy? How can we be happy or feel joyful when everything around us is not helping us feel that way?

Joy is different from happiness, happiness can depend on wanting the circumstances of our lives to be perfect, when they’re not!  Joy though, is on another spectrum it’s learning how to keep the light of hope within us.  When we feel without joy, we can feel empty and  lack resilience; this is a common life experience!

Finding a Way Ahead!  offers ideas on finding joy  by learning how to receive the good from the world, from hearing birdsong, looking at nature, storing and accessing our joyous memories and learning  how to believe in ourselves.  We can learn how to make the flame of joy grow within us to carry us through our lives.

Joy can lead us to fulfill a deep wish; to have the courage to pursue the career we’ve always longed for; or to give ourselves more time to do the hobby we’ve wanted to do. Joy gives us permission to be ourselves, and can free us from striving and living in ways that limit us, and stop us from living life to the full. Joy needs to be cultivated in order to re-frame our perceptions of ourselves and others.