This morning, I missed my alarm twice and, even though I was running late, my cat was sitting right next to me. He was purring to my left. The thing about Bennie is that he is so playful, so wonderful, *and* he only really loves cuddles in the morning.
The thing is that, for me, cuddling with my cat is probably one of the top 10 things that I most love in this whole world. This is a tiny moment when life invited me to add more joy *and* I chose to accept. Now, I invite you to add more joy to your life through 4 key actions *and* I hope you'll accept:
1. Differentiating joy from happiness
2. Noticing
3. Practicing sprinkling
4. Linking joy to rest 1. Differentiating joy from happiness
To me, for the purposes of this article, the difference between joy and happiness is that joy is something that adds up overtime as this underlying current of contentment that has peaks and valleys. It's like a battery that can always be charging, whereas happiness feels more like a momentary emotion.
So, this is where the idea of consistency over perfection matters in my mind. Happiness can sometimes be imagined as that 1 moment captured in that one photo, whereas joy is something that we're cultivating day in and day out.
Q: How do you differentiate joy from happiness, if at all?
2. Noticing To me, the act of noticing is one of the most powerful tools we have. When we notice, we take a step back in a way and admire what's happening. We can notice the edges, sounds, colours, and feelings of a single moment.
We can also take it a step further and notice the people, places, and experiences that add joy to every day moments. For example, for me today, it was my cat purring next to my face on a Thursday morning. The thing is that, if I'm too busy only noticing how I slept through 3 alarms, then I might miss also noticing that moment of joy that took all of two minutes.
Q: What can help you notice more of the tiny moments of joy that make you feel alive?
3. Sprinkling
I think of "sprinkling" as an opportunity to bring a little more joy through everyday life and *literally* 'sprinkle it on top' the way you would on a donut. To me, this means moving from this zero sum game of either everything is perfect and everything is ideal for this one moment or it's not at all.
Sprinkling looks like breaks throughout the day to play with Bennie, sounds like calling a friend for a check-in, and feels like doing my hair in a way that makes my inner 3 year old jump for joy.
Q: What would you like to *sprinkle* throughout your everyday life? 4. Linking joy to rest
Last and most certainly not least, we already know that rest is vital to our wellbeing, our professional lives, and our personal lives. So, what if we reframe joy as a powerful form of rest and link the types of rest that we need to the types of joy that can support these.
These 7 types of joy would match the 7 types of rest that every person needs: physical, mental, emotional, creative, sensory, spiritual, and social joy.
Q: If joy is a form of rest that also supports different types of rest, what types of joy can you notice and sprinkle throughout your life?
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