Ever wish you could supercharge the joy in your life?

Well, today, I’m going to show you how. Everything we want in life we want because of how we believe having, experiencing, or achieving it will make us feel. Emotion is the only motivator.

We want to feel joy. And because we want that feeling, we create a set of beliefs around what has to happen to make us feel that way. We try to control how certain situations play out and how specific people behave in order for us to feel the way we want to feel. But, there’s a much easier way.

Look at the flip side. You might not have thought of this before, but there is another side to that coin. Trying to change all the circumstances in your life is really hard to do—it’s also not necessary.

There is another way. You could choose to feel good, focus on the positive, show gratitude, step away from destructive conversations, activities, or people, let go of what you can’t change, look at life from a different perspective. You have the ability to choose to feel good, no matter what is happening.

Feeling joy takes practice.

There’s no magic wand, of course. You can’t snap your fingers and make things change. Opening yourself to feeling joy takes practice.

You don’t need to set up rules in your life about how things need to be for you to be happy. You can be happy by choosing to feel joy in your body and using your mind to make that happen.

Joy is like a bowl of lemons.

Imagine that I’ve just walked into the room. It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and I’ve brought you some fresh lemons from my garden. Their distinct clean, citrusy smell wafts through the room as I walk over to where you’re sitting. 

I take out a knife and slice through one of the lemons, juice squirting in every direction. The fresh, pungent smell of the lemon hits you with full force as I cut it and give you one to put into your mouth.

Can you feel how your mouth puckers up and fills with saliva as the sharp, sour taste touches your tongue? Everybody does when I share this story. Why do you think that is? Because your brain thinks you’re putting that slice of lemon in your mouth.

It doesn’t know the difference between what you imagine and what is real. It sends the signal to produce saliva and break down the acid in the lemon. The way your brain deals with emotions is no different.

Here’s another example of the power of your mind:

Let’s say your phone is ringing, you pick it up, and one of your nearest and dearest friends starts sharing the absolute best news you could ever imagine.

Maybe it’s something you’ve always wanted to hear or some heartfelt dream of yours that’s about to come true. As your friend shares this wonderful news with you, you hear her excitement and feel her enthusiasm. The more you hear, the more energized and excited you become.

You jump up and dance around the room, smiling from ear to ear. This is such fantastic news; you just want to jump for joy! Now finish up your imaginary phone call and ask yourself: did that just make me feel good?

Could you feel the excitement? Did you catch yourself smiling?

Was there an actual phone call? No.

Was there any really good news? Nope.

It was just you using your imagination. Yet, you could feel it. We often believe there are things we need before we can feel what we want to feel. If feeling joy is what you’re after, I challenge you to identify what joys feels like and practice tapping into that feeling often.

Feeling joy is a journey.

And so is life. It’s a journey where our emotions evolve if we let them. You learn a bit more about yourself every day. Why be miserable when there is a better option? Feeling joy is something you can choose. You don’t have to wait. You need to stop waiting.

Unconditional joy is yours for the taking. All you have to do is choose to feel it, embrace it, and practice it. The joy you’re looking for is already inside you. It always has been. It’s just gotten crowded out by all the other emotions being triggered by what’s going on around you. 

If feeling joy is what you want more of, here’s something simple you can do to get you started:

Step 1: Take a few deep breaths.

It allows you to grab the subconscious mind’s attention since it’s the subconscious mind that’s generally in charge of your breathing. It helps relax you. And, the more relaxed you are, the more open you are.

Step 2: Remember a time when you felt intense joy.

Feel that intense joy, now. Hear what you heard at the time. See what you saw. Use all your senses to experience that deep feeling of joy, right here and right now.

Expand on it. Intensify it. Really let that feeling of joy flood your body and all of your senses. Bask in that feeling; experience it as fully as you possibly can.

Now, tell yourself: every time I do this exercise, I will feel more joy, faster and faster. When you feel joy, you radiate happiness. Always remember that you have the power to feel what you want to feel.

Joy is within you. It’s just waiting for you to focus on it.