Welcome back to our 4 week Joy Challenge! Featuring simple but effective tools for happiness.
If you missed it, you can find Challenge # 1 HERE and Challenge #2 HERE.
Challenge #3 – Joy List
The challenge for this week is to create a joy list!
What’s a joy list?
A list of people, places, things, activities, colors, smells, ANYTHING, that brings you joy.
Why keep a joy list?
- Just thinking about things that you like can release dopamine in your brain which gives you a hit of happiness
- Putting together a joy list teaches you more about yourself and your preferences
- It shows you how easy finding joy can be and how much of it can be within your control
- It gives you something to pull from whenever you need it
- Being joyful isn’t a personality trait. It’s something that takes practice. Creating a joy list is part of that practice.
Examples: the color blue, fresh flowers, dancing, butterflies, bookstores, the smell of jasmine, walking outside, videos of bunnies eating flowers, books, the ocean, cozy cottages, helping others, my dog…
Try it for yourself:
Create a joy list and experience at least one thing from your joy list daily.
You can create your list in a notebook, in the notes app on your phone, wherever! This is a working list, meaning, you’re not completing it all at one time. As you go about your day and find things that make you happy, add them to the list!
Just creating your list can bring a lot of joy! Looking for happy things in your day is a great way to add joy to your life. You’ll find that the more you’re looking for the positive, the more you’ll experience positive things. It’s not that they weren’t there before, but now you’re noticing them. Over time, you won’t need to look so hard to find them. It’ll become second nature.
Adapt during challenging times:
During difficult times, read through your list! Just reading through your list may give you a spark of joy.
If possible, try doing something from your joy list. It’s okay if it doesn’t make you happy right away. Feel however it is you feel, acknowledge it, and without trying to stuff it away, do something from your joy list. It may bring you some happiness, it may not. That’s okay.
The point is not to push aside our feelings, it’s just to move forward in joy. It may take doing several things from your list before feeling any joy. Or you may not feel it. That’s okay too. Be patient with the process.
Wishing you lots of love and joy, today and always,
Lena and Bassam