Practicing Joy or Practicing Depression

I love watching my son enjoying a funny movie. When something is funny to him it doesn’t seem to matter if anyone else in the family is laughing. He will literally roll on the floor in genuine, joyful, belly-laughing!

If you are like most adults, or at least like I was, I would watch the same movie and people watching with me would say, “Hey, You are not laughing!” I would smile and say, “Oh, its funny. I am laughing on the inside.”

Where did our ability to really feel joy go? If you compare the energy of your negative emotions, can you generate the same intensity of energy for the positive emotions, such as joy?

Somewhere along the way to adulthood many of us have lost much of our ability to really feel genuine, high intensity joy.

All our life is practicing and perfecting the personification with which we justify ourselves to the world. I know many of you might say, “Yes, but when I was a child I acted like a child, but now that I am an adult I act like an adult and put away the things of childhood.”

I am not saying you should act “childish.” I am saying we should all practice being “Child-like.”

I met someone, and at times I too have done the same, whose entire demeanor revealed that he felt completely justified in becoming the personification of dejection and depression. He said to me, “Oh, you can ask anyone, I am usually a really joyful person! But this that and the other happened and everything went wrong.”

I said, “You cannot practice depression and somehow get to happiness and joy!”
Every cell in the human body shifts its chemistry to support the emotions and dominant thoughts you are choosing. You are you own pharmacy, filling every biochemical needed to depress you or every chemical to experience joy.

No pill and no drug can overpower the chemicals that the trillions of cells in your body are cranking out to support the condition you are practicing. I guarantee you that the majority of people, if given the right stimulus would completely shift their mood and thereby their chemistry.

You cannot drive your car towards the east coast and somehow end up on the west coast. If you want to experience a genuinely, joy-filled life you must practice joyful actions. How do you practice joy? By laughing out loud, smiling, complimenting others, choosing the path that feels more joyful, playing with children, sitting up straight instead of slouching, walking tall with a spring in your step, your head up, and eyes alert. Be ready for any opportunity to be lighthearted. Practice telling only the joyful events of your life. Get out of the house and interact with other joyful people. Find what activity or occupation that you can be joyful doing and pursue doing it with joy.

Even though society and almost every movie and television program seems to encourage us, and even glamorize being gritchy. I know it is cool to fit in to the social norms, however I encourage you to break away from following society's example and absolutely move from being gritchy to being graceful in every life situation.

I promise you that even if you only fake joyful actions, and you do it long enough, and make it your daily practice to turn your entire personification to embody joy that every cell will be forced to produce the chemicals, hormones, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides necessary to truly BE joyful!

You can choose now to either practice depression, practice being angry, practice being nervous, or you can choose now to practice loving all, practice being peaceful, practice being kind, practice being the embodiment and personification of all things good.

Here is the true “Stimulus plan” for your prosperity of body, mind, finances, relationships, and spirit… practice and walk in all ways on the joyful path and help others to do the same. Share