Finding Joy in the Journey

It’s not about the destination...blah blah blah. I know. We’ve all heard it. It’s about enjoying the ride. So why am I having trouble enjoying this? Is it only me? My life is good, but sometimes, I would really rather be doing something else, with someone else or as someone else.

What do we do when the thoughts come up that we find ourselves more than willing to follow? Reasoning or thoughts that try to convince us that we would be better off doing something else. If we go with these ways of thinking, we even create vivid images of that “something else” and they look so much better than what we are currently doing. Our expectations get set by mental images rather than reality and our experience of reality pales in comparison.

So how do we stay present with what we are doing and truly find joy in it? Well one good way is to be grateful. I know. We’ve all heard this one before as well. But how can we be grateful when times are tough?

First, let’s look at what gratitude is not. Gratitude is not being thankful for what we do have because there are some unfortunate souls that have less than we do. It is not counting our blessing for things we have today because we may lose them tomorrow. It is not giving thanks for the fact that we woke up today because others did not and tomorrow we may die.

Gratitude IS being thankful for the moment we have and the opportunity it presents us to live. It IS being grateful for having another moment to create something wonderful in our lives. We can truly be grateful that every day we are given the choice of what we choose to focus on. We can focus on all the possibilities there are for taking action on tasks that will improve our circumstances. We can be grateful that we have been given the power of free will to create what we want in our lives.

Joy truly comes when we are creating something. When we are actively using our energy to bring something new to life. We feel alive when our energy is flowing and we feel joy when it yields fruits. This can be anything from relationships, to special projects, to career objectives or realizing life-long dreams.

Once we achieve something, unless there is something new to focus our creative juices into, life gets flat. We feel less alive, our health may diminish and we lose the joy.

The good old days are never about when we had everything we wanted and everything was going well. Whenever people talk about the good old days, they tell stories about how they rose to meet adversity and made something great from next to nothing. We look back at the times when we used our energy to change our lives and bring something new into existence.

What possibilities are you grateful for in your life? What is your next step that will bring you one step closer to a dream? Are you focusing on what you do not have or on what you are creating? Your answers to these questions will empower you to find, nurture, and sustain the joy in your journey.