"Joy is a decision, a really brave one about how you are going to respond to life."
- Wess Stafford
There are so many aspects of HEALTH.
Sure, most of us focus on diet and exercise with a couple little lifestyle improvements sprinkled into the mix... but how many of us focus on JOY? Early this year I was feeling overwhelmed with all my “to do’s”, I was feeling stressed, and anxious. I tried to figure out what was missing? Where was I going wrong? I think that it's important to ask ourselves these things, instead of just ;eating those negative feelings persist.
I realized that I had let all the stresses of life and the things on my "to-do" list overtake my headspace. All of that junk became my priority, and I stopped doing all the things that bring me JOY. So I sat down and created a list, at the top I wrote “What makes Lindsey happy?”
Life is not just about work and tasks but we need to consistently remind ourselves to do the things that make us happy. None of us will get to our death bed and say “bring me my bank statements” or “let me see all my reports one last time”. Let that really sink in.
On my list I wrote down all the things that bring me joy, like hanging out with my family and closest friends, traveling, reading, volunteering, bible study, getting massages, boxing and there were others. Boxing was something I had done for years, I loved it and I’m very passionate about it. So why did I stop? I let everything else get in the way.
Never again. I found a place that I loved going to each week and I started up again. Thank you to Joe and Tally for helping me get back into it on a more regular basis. Now I’m sure boxing doesn’t bring everyone JOY, but you need to figure out what those things are for YOU... and know how vital they are to your health.
I listened to Dr. Ben Lynch (Author of Dirty Genes) speak last year on our genes and he said one of the best things we can do for our health is “take a vacation”.
He also listed meditation, hobbies, laughter and community etc. and one of the worst things was STRESS. No wonder I was feeling so bad, so disconnected and unlike myself. Stress is so bad for our bodies in too many ways to list (that’s a whole other post) ... So maybe it’s time to sit down and write down the things that make YOU happy and refer back to it often.
We weren’t created to just work and pay bills, we were created to live abundantly, have purpose and community, and experience great JOY.