The Secret to a Joyful Life
Diana Kennedy
You want to know what the secret is? The secret to a joyful life is focusing on what you want! Sometimes this is easier said than done. All those wonderful uplifting quotes and things we learned at spiritual workshops or things we may have heard from our latest guru many times go out the window when we find ourselves in the midst of it all. In the midst of chaos, confusion, layoffs, war, not enough money, not enough love, not enough of whatever it may be many times can ‘throw’ us off our center and we start acting like someone else!
So, what does it take to lead a more joyful life, and why is it a secret? Well, I don’t know that it is truly a secret, but it is something that the human race is just beginning to ‘get’. Ernest Holmes with the Church of Religious Science taught that where the mind goes, the energy flows. Abraham Hicks Publications teach that what we focus on expands! We’ve heard religious leaders teach similar ideas. Robert Schuller said, “Your attitude determines your altitude”. How true! How can we take these ideas and apply them to the nitty gritty of our lives?
For the past seven years, I have been consciously studying (I studied many unconscious years before that!) the principles that have absolutely changed my life. Before learning how I can affect my world through my thoughts and feelings, I lived on an emotional roller coaster. I lived by default, so to speak. If things went well, I was happy and fun to be around. If things weren’t going well however, I missed the party, stayed at home and sulked, and cried and ate and did whatever I could to drown myself in my misery. When I reached a point of no return, I decided to live the empowered life and make internal changes that would soon show up as more joy in my life.
I learned that uncomfortable feelings and negative emotions would let me know when I was off track in my life or where I was focusing on what wasn’t working. I also learned that joy and positive feeling emotions let me know that I am on the right track and/or focusing on what is working in my life. With these ‘secrets’ plus a few techniques, I have been able to move to a place in my life where most days are good ones, most weeks are too! I have my moments but using these teachings has enabled me to quickly shift from ‘not feeling good about life’ to feeling ‘empowered, prosperous, loved, loving and joyful’.
One of the things I do when I am not feeling great about something (money, relationship, choices, obligations, etc) I ask myself, “what’s bugging me about this?”. Then I quickly shift to “so what do I want instead?” These simple internal questions (or you can write them down) pivot your attention towards what you are wanting. Since all our thoughts are energy and we are like huge magnets, when we shift our thoughts and feelings around a subject, we shift our energy. We then can attract more (and more and more and more!) of what we are wanting! This also works for when we focus on what isn’t working in our lives. We’ve had those days where nothing seems to go right and it only seems to get worse. Well, using these “secret” teachings, we can create our lives so that the better it gets, the better it gets!
Diana Kennedy is the author of Living from Spirit email newsletter and column. She offers affordable spiritual consultations and email classes based on the Law of Attraction . Diana leads the early church service at Unity of Tallahassee. To contact her, call 878-2130 or toll free 1-888-830-9749, visit http://www.dianakennedy.com or living_from_spirit@yahoo.com
