find joy in february By Natalie McCulloch
“Do what brings you joy and your purpose will follow.”
Firstly, a huge well done, you survived the first month of 2020, January, which often sees us making goals, setting resolutions and committing to right our ‘wrongs’. This month may be inspiring but also gruelling and act as a way to punish oneself for things we feel inferior about ourselves. Popular New Year resolutions revolve around losing weight, increasing exercise and giving up ‘bad’ habits or favourite foods. Quite often these things, although beneficial long term, don’t induce feelings of joy and pleasure short term (celery sticks and burpees can’t possibly be high on anyone’s list of luxuries surely?!)
So what is Joy? The dictionary defines joy as: ‘deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment or something causing such a feeling; a source of happiness’. Sounds pretty appealing I hope you agree? The tricky bit is knowing what joy is for you; what makes you feel pleasure, happiness or satisfaction? Hopefully you have some ideas, but often we go about our daily lives by rote or to satisfy others without thinking to stop and think about ourselves. So it may be worth reminding yourself now, “What gives me a feeling of joy?”
I would never encourage anyone to give up on goals or throw in the towel on their missions, but I would encourage anyone to try and incorporate a vital mission into their day, namely finding joy. Alongside the short term benefits of finding joy, namely instant gratification (like the instant satisfaction obtaining from smelling your favourite perfume), there may be longer term benefits to your health, well being and lifestyle such as increased productivity, reduced sickness and heighted sense of worth. As Lyanla Vanzant said,
So why is February a good time to start seeking joy? Firstly, with the stresses and debts of the festive period fizzling out for another year but also the excitement and fun of Christmas subsiding, it’s an ideal time to find pleasure through other avenues. Secondly, February sees the UK going hearts and flowers mad for the 14th, Valentine’s Day, so with all that ‘love’ in the air, why not steal a bit for yourself? Finally, February sees Ash
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Article - Natalie McCulloch - Febr... page 2
Tuesday, 28 January 2020 14:08 Magenta Yellow Cyan Black
