Journaling your Way towards Greater Joy

“What you love is a sign from your higher self of what you are to do.” -Sanaya Roman

Here’s a fun exercise:

Set a timer for 15 minutes.  Take out a sheet of paper and a pen.  Write down all of the things that give you joy, until the timer stops.  Try not to think too much – just write down the first things that come to your mind when you think about what makes you feel joyful.

It doesn’t matter what you write or how you write it.  You can say “watching cows roam in grass” or “yoga” or “attempting crow pose and falling on my head” or “John Cusack movies” or “my dad.”  You can list people, activities, or objects.

When the timer goes off, put your paper and pen away.

Repeat this exercise every day for a week.

At the end of the week, look at what you wrote each day.  What comes up multiple times?  What themes do you see?

These recurring ideas can give you some strong insight into where to direct your energy, so that you can use your time in as sincere and fulfilling a way as possible.

You can continue this exercise for several more weeks, distilling your daily lists down to a single list at the end of each week.  After a month or two, compare your shortened lists from each week and see if you can refine your joys to something even more concrete and focused.

If you have done something like this before, let us know how it turned out!

[whohit]blog-joy[/whohit]