5 Rules for Lasting Joy (A Reflection On Martha Beck's Guidance For A Joyful Life)
“1. Honesty is the Best Policy
When we speak honestly we need not remember a story, make one up, or feel guilt for not showing up authentically. Nothing’s coming back to bite us because we are being truthful, kind, and real.
2. Give up on Toxic People
It pays to look at the relationships, friendships, and partnerships we’re in right now. Are people dimming our light, taxing our will, hurting our feelings, helping us grow, or showing us new ways to shine? The answers can be difficult to define at times, but chances are, when we truly reflect, we know the truth.
3. Let It Go!
Whether it’s being cut off in traffic or being criticized by a partner who’s in a bad mood, are there things we are carrying through our day that we don’t need to put on our shoulders or carry around? Where can we let go? What can we do today to let go of things, people, thoughts, and feelings that are not serving us?
4. Trust your Gut
We can sometimes ignore the signals our heart and our body might be sending us because we feel we’re being impulsive or silly. However, the strength to trust our gut can lead us to great joys and away from trouble or hardship that comes with “forcing” rather than “allowing”.
5. Your More Powerful than You Know
What is your super power? What gift do you have to bring into the world? Where do you doubt yourself? What if you allowed yourself to be more fully aware of the ways in which you have the ability to grow, thrive, help others, and light up the world around you? Where have you survived and endured only to find a way to thrive later on? The truth is that our joyful life is not in the future, it is now and it is a direct result of acknowledging the power we have to change our lives, the lives of others, and to change our mind and actions as often as we need to in order to live in joyful service, community, kindness, creativity, and light.
-Martha Beck