Are You Putting Your Joy on Hold?
When we’re on a spiritual journey of self-discovery there is a lot of focus on healing and growing. There is a desire to move forward beyond the past, beyond the patterns we no longer want to repeat or experience. There is an excitement around learning new spiritual tools and practices, a desire to comprehend and integrate it all.
For me the spiritual path is a lifestyle and a calling, it’s a big part of my life. I’m also a sagittarius, with my bow and arrow pointed at the stars, dreaming and setting lofty goals. I approached my healing path with that same sagittarius eagerness. The more I saw how helpful my spiritual and wellness tools were the more I wanted to grow and the more I felt I needed to do the inner work.
While this motivation is good, being so focused on the inner work made me start to feel like there was something to fix, like I was broken. For a while, it shifted the focus from living or enjoying my life to fixing my life. I forgot that the path is never ending and that joy exists on the path.
I fell into the trap of feeling that my joy would happen when I reached a huge milestone or end point. Once I found “the person”, once I healed the trauma, once I felt more abundant, once my business took off, once I healed my relationships with family, or once I became a mom. This kept me looking to the future and feeling like I had more work to do.
These days, I can clearly see that enjoyment is not something to be earned, it is our birthright. There is nothing to do or fix as a prerequisite, we simply need to let it in or choose it in the present moments.
Our joy is accessible here and now, wherever we are on our journey.
While life does throw a lot at us that requires work, choosing to meet life’s challenges has a different energetic vibration than working to fix ourselves, prove our worth, or get to an imagined place where we can let go and enjoy.
I choose to no longer put my joy on hold. I make space for it and I invite it into in all areas of my life.
My spiritual path continues but it looks different these days. I have a practice of allowing pleasure and joy in my day to day instead of focusing on how much progress I’m making on my healing or growth. It could be as simple as slowly enjoying a cup of tea, being present with the trees as I walk, or making space to play and giggle with my son. I know if I make space for those small bits of presence and joy then my days are brighter.
When we want to be our best selves it can be easy to forget that feeling good, and helping others feel good, is the whole point. We can’t always be happy but we can always practice choosing joy.
May you give yourself permission to enjoy this precious life now.
Need a little help inviting more joy into your everyday?
Try these reflection & journaling prompts:
What would bring in more joy today?
Which path before me feels the most joyous?
How could I let go and invite joy or play into my life?
At what points in my life have I felt most joyous?
What would make my daily tasks more enjoyable?
What are three things that bring me the inner feeling of joy?
What am I grateful for in my life?
What keeps joy feeling out of reach? How can I gently tend to that?
Looking for more support on your personal path of self-discovery?
There are 4 spots available in May for Intuitive Life Coaching
Schedule a free introductory call, email me at paula@guidanceonthepath.com
Photo by Mohamed Nohassi
