How Chasing Joy Changed My Life

It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.

– Lucille Ball

There have been many things that I’ve chased in my life: certifications, promotions, friendships, health, security, clarity, confidence… the list goes on.

It’s only recently, however, that I discovered that the only thing that I really needed to chase was joy.

Chasing Joy Over Achievement

We live in a society that tends to value achievement over fulfillment and busyness over inner peace. We feel pressured to always be working towards a goal. Always creating, building, and striving.

We really aren’t encouraged to take time to sit with ourselves, to connect with our inner voice, and to allow our journey through life to unfold. In fact, taking time to savor everyday moments is often perceived as lazy or a luxury.

It wasn’t long ago that I was feeling overwhelmed by my life. I was getting caught in the cycle of being busy. I was feeling the weight of being a business owner, a wife, and a mom to two young children. Everyday life was starting to feel heavy, and I noticed that I was often feeling stressed out and frustrated throughout the day. I started to wonder if, by consciously chasing joy, I could experience more ease and happiness as I continued to navigate the challenges that came up and worked towards my goals.

Rather than crumble under the weight I was feeling, I made a choice to start chasing joy over achievement. I didn’t really know where to start, so I began by simply taking three minutes each day to meditate and connect with my inner voice. Those three minutes started a shift that created a complete reprioritization of what was important in my life.

Embracing the Journey of Chasing Joy

I felt drawn to the practices that first started me on my journey inward several years ago, such as meditation, Reiki, writing, and holistic self-care. I started reincorporating these practices in short bursts throughout my day. I took the time to notice the things that were going great in my life. I worked on spending more time with the people I cared about.

Slowly, I started noticing a change. I was spending a lot more time feeling at ease, feeling grateful, and feeling content than I had been in a long time.

I invited my clients and community to embark on the journey of chasing joy with me and I was amazed by their results and humbled by their feedback.

It became very clear to me that chasing any sort of external accomplishment or recognition would never lead to the kind of internal joy that most of us crave. Sure, reaching our goals can be fantastic, but the journey towards them can be equally fantastic, if not better!

I realized that we don’t have to wait for any change in our lives, any circumstance to happen or go away, or any person to enter or leave our lives to start feeling good. We can start chasing joy today.

How can you chase joy in your everyday life? What makes you feel inspired? Grateful? Alive? How can you bring more of those experiences into your life, even just as mini bursts of joy throughout your day? It’s amazing how even just 3 minutes can change your day.

Imagine how your life might change if you made chasing joy your priority. Try it for yourself and see!