Wow! We’re off to an amazing start to the second day of the Gratitude Project Blog Summit! On November 18th, phone in from 9am to 4pm EST for the first 10 minutes of each hour to experience different waves of gratitude! Join us and sign up!
My new friend, Sigrid Kjeldsen, is the next wise mind to give her take on gratitude! Sigrid also owns and operates the site The Joyful Mother which offers inspiration, one on one coaching and online courses with new courses launching this January! The Joyful Mother helps conscious moms dissolve resistance, in the form of stress, self-doubt, frustration, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, etc., that stands in the way of living and loving as a Joyful Mother. By taking responsibility for their own happiness, Sigrid believes moms can make this their most important parenting tool. You can find out more about the Joyful Mother by visiting www.thejoyfulmother.com. Sign up for The Joyful Mother’s Top 5 Tips That Will Take Mom from Good to Great by visiting and LIKING The Joyful Mother Facebook page!
Getting to Your Joy Default
By Sigrid Kjeldsen
For many of us, struggle, strain and turmoil is how we learn. Coming out the other end of really awful situations is how we understand and SEE that life is indeed beautiful. Over at The Joyful Mother Facebook community, we have moms that have experienced the unthinkable – the loss of a child or of a spouse. Many of these moms have used and are learning to use, their experiences to cultivate a greater appreciation for life.
Then there is this huge group of us today that haven’t gone through such turmoil. But we seem to complain about life as if we had. Our children are irritating and wild, our jobs are stressful, all of the responsibilities we juggle are draining, we are out of shape and exhausted and we often feel we are living our lives unfulfilled and frustrated. The biggest challenge for this group is the tendency to seek fulfillment and meaning outside of ourselves. Doing this creates a sort of happiness instability. We are happy when things are going right, frustrated when things go wrong.
For the first group, the stressor is so extreme, so worst-case scenario, that after some time people realize “Hey! I just experienced my greatest fear”, and they often recognize that underneath fear, worry, stress, frustration is this naturally, pulsating joyful life experience. What I call The Joy Default.
You see the people living with, let’s say, less major stress have accepted this way of life as the NORM. We have completely normalized stress because we see no other way, we see no relief. The only thing that we think will give us relief is a change in our external circumstances. If you lack money, relief comes only with the addition of more money. If you hate your job, relief comes only in the form of a new, better job. If you find balancing work and home life a struggle, relief only comes in finding the perfect balancing act. This group is fundamentally unconscious of what the other group sees and has recognized– that there is life underneath the life experience as Ekhart Tolle says.
Does this explain your life? If so, you are one of millions that feel the same. But today could be the day life changes for you! I am going to tell you how to escape from a life of stress and frustration and it is the easiest, most lovely habit you could ever cultivate.
It is about getting grateful. Your life will literally change when you start focusing on all the blessings in your life. Really feel them, see them and cultivate a deep awareness of these things throughout your day. And do you know what will start happening? You will find the RELIEF you have been searching for. Relief from your daily struggles, from what isn’t working in your life, and discover your life underneath your life experience or your Joy Default.
So, ask yourself this…”If you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for yesterday, what would you have?”
But before tell you some of my favorite tools for starting something new (I’ve got so many; it was hard to choose just 4!), first let me give you some examples of what launching something new can encompass:
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