Permission to Live a Joyful Life
Stop the Glorification of Busy and Give Yourself Permission to Live a Joyful Life!
It’s as if someone from the outside has decided to play a cruel joke on a large segment of humanity. From the outside looking in they’re saying, “Let’s turn up the dial and increase the speed of life for humans and see how much they can take before they naturally combust.”
We’ve fallen into a trance of sorts where there’s some warped shared understanding that to be busy means we are productive members of society, needed and important. This is supposed to make us feel good, but at the end of the day it comes with a terrible expense – increased stress, anxiety, depression, cellular inflammation and less time, value for play and taking care of ourselves.
The reality is, if we want to increase the general well-being of our culture we need to stop the glorification of busy. Can we begin to accept that it’s also okay to lead a calmer and more joyful life?
Can we practice and learn to see others who are doing this, taking time for themselves, playing and finding enjoyment in life and rather than meeting them with judgment, practice seeing their joy and being happy for their happiness ?
Ask yourself, what would the days, weeks and months ahead be like if there were more people who were encouraging of and genuinely happy for the joyful moments you experience in life? How would that make you feel? And how would it make you feel if you felt genuinely happy for the good moments of other people’s lives?
If an increasing amount of people practiced this what would be different in our workplaces, schools, and our culture or the world at large?
What if cultures were happy for other culture’s happiness or nations were happy for other nation’s high well-being index rather than viewing it as a competition?
Play with the idea that if you want to increase happiness in your life and the lives of people around you, stop the glorification of busy and step into being encouraging of your good moments and the good moments of others.
Science has shown for a while now that emotions are contagious, we know this because when people smile and laugh, we smile and laugh.
Bring the practice of finding ways to dial down busy-ness as much as possible (maybe put down the Smartphone more as a start) and bring intention to smiling during your good moments and the good moments of others. Embrace a joyful life!
Imagine what a world this could be.
Warmly,
Elisha
We explore mindful relaxation and savoring life in my 6-month online community-based mentorship experience, A Course in Mindful Living. The course is offered 1-2 times a year and spots are very limited, with special exclusive pricing for the waiting list! Sign up for the Waiting List to learn more.
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