Leaning into Joy
I have written about Dr Brennee Brown before. Amazing stuff. One of the things she talks about is that humans have an innate leaning towards "joy foreboding". In other words, when we experience pure joy, pure happiness, we very quickly start to think about all the things that could happen to destroy that joy.
It is a defense mechanism. We are wired that way. We want to steel ourselves for the bad news, for the other shoe to drop, so that we might not be so vulnerable, so that we might be better prepared to deal with it.
But the reality is, when bad things happen, you can't really prepare for them. The better course is to take the moments of joy, of happiness, and make them count - make them last. Appreciate them for what they are. Many Eastern philosophies teach "being present", understanding that our true self is centered in the Now, and that to focus on that is to fine our real self, real joy.
Dr. Brown goes on to say, of the thousands of people she has interviewed, those that have learned to beat joy foreboding, those who have learned to lean into joy, are the people who practice gratitude; they do so as a process - at the dinner table, in their place of worship, in their meditations. They practice gratitude, and by doing so learn to appreciate those moments of joy, to lean into them. To make them last.
This week, in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving. Let's make it a habit to practice gratitude.
Commit to practicing gratitude. Lean into joy. Aprecciate every minute of the good stuff.
Lean into it!
It is a defense mechanism. We are wired that way. We want to steel ourselves for the bad news, for the other shoe to drop, so that we might not be so vulnerable, so that we might be better prepared to deal with it.
But the reality is, when bad things happen, you can't really prepare for them. The better course is to take the moments of joy, of happiness, and make them count - make them last. Appreciate them for what they are. Many Eastern philosophies teach "being present", understanding that our true self is centered in the Now, and that to focus on that is to fine our real self, real joy.
Dr. Brown goes on to say, of the thousands of people she has interviewed, those that have learned to beat joy foreboding, those who have learned to lean into joy, are the people who practice gratitude; they do so as a process - at the dinner table, in their place of worship, in their meditations. They practice gratitude, and by doing so learn to appreciate those moments of joy, to lean into them. To make them last.
This week, in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving. Let's make it a habit to practice gratitude.
Commit to practicing gratitude. Lean into joy. Aprecciate every minute of the good stuff.
Lean into it!
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