16 Dec Choose Joy! – Affirmation 50

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This week’s affirmation is about choosing JOY.

Are you ready? Repeat after me:

I choose JOY, right now!
I shake off any shame I may be carrying and
lovingly give myself grace on grace on grace.

Go ahead… shout it out again!

Choosing joy isn’t always easy. Some days it is downright difficult, other days we feel like we are floating on clouds, and many in between those can be rather milquetoast.

I put together 5 tips that help me choose joy… here we go.

1: Get more sleep.

One of my favorite power women quotes is from Arianna Huffington. It goes like this: 

“Sleep your way to the top.” 

Too many people believe success is defined by the number of hours you work, not the quality. It is time to wake up and listen to the many truths about the value of dedicating your precious time to get enough sleep, as often as possible.

This is often easier said than done, especially if you have littles in the house or are starting and running your own business. Sleep is incredibly important and I encourage you to stop staying up so late, design a delicious evening self-care routine, and implement in at least a few nights a week. Let me know how it goes.

2: Don’t get caught up in other people’s unnecessary drama.  

There really isn’t much that can steal your joy more than getting caught up in OPD. 

When others try to suck you into their crazy, put a smile on your face, take a deep breath, and say – no thank you.  You don’t have to solve everyone’s problems. If you get pulled in – shake off the shame, give yourself grace, and walk away – right back into a place of JOY.

3: Choose to make every day special.

When you intentionally look for ways to make each day special, you will start to feel more patient, loving and kind. You don’t need to create a ticker-tape parade every day but think about ways to delight your loved ones. Consider adding in slices of cucumber and sprigs of mint to your ice water, serve lunch with tea in fancy cups with sandwiches cut into fingertip snack size, place post-it love notes around your home and in lunch bags, decorate your windows and slider doors with dry-erase markers… you get the idea!

Want a list of some crazy dates to celebrate? Visit holidayScalendar.com/categories/weird

4: Move Your Body

You’ve heard me sing it before…
Shake shake shake
Shake shake shake
Shake your booty. 

Starting your day with exercise boosts your metabolism, gives you energy for the day, and releases endorphins – that (yes, you guessed it) help you choose joy! 

Grab a sassy boa or your fave scarf, turn on your favorite song, and shake your toosh. 

Ok, so dancing isn’t your thing?

Last year, I learned about and tried Shaking Meditation after seeing @yoga_girl on Instagram. Here is what she shared in that post:

“Shaking Meditation is an amazing way to release stress and tension, calm the mind, and settle nervousness. All mammals shake! You know how a dog shakes after they get up or when they are faced with a new situation? It’s a primal thing – they literally shake off old energy and tension as a way of resetting. Humans also shake but mainly when our fight or flight impulses are activated (especially during trauma or when we experience a threat to our system). If you are under pressure or feeling stress in your day-to-day life chances are you are living in the high adrenaline “fight or flight”-mode for big parts of the day… But you’re not shaking it out. Giving yourself 15 minutes to shake at the end of the day is a great way to transition from work to a calm evening at home. Shaking activates the parasympathetic nervous system and signals to the brain that it’s safe to relax and let go. It also activates our lymphatic system and helps the body rid itself of toxins – and it, most important of all, feels SO GOOD.”

When I keynote an event, I always do my best to stick around and listen to the other guest experts. At one event, a panelist on stage shared a wonderful, simple slice of advice. Don’t overthink it. Put on your shoes, open the front door, and walk outside for 7 minutes and then turn around and head home.  

Voila!

5: Count your blessings.

You have multiple blessings in your life – right this very minute. 

Being a servant leader is truly a blessing.  

Waking up every single day to connect with passionate, thought-provoking connections is a blessing.

Having a roof over your head, food in your belly, money in your wallet, and likely a magical pocket-sized computer that goes everywhere with you telling you time, temperature, and keeps you connected to many other blessings in your life.

Lioness, you don’t need to count sheep to achieve that divine sleep we talked about in number one. Start counting your blessings every single day. It’s KEY to being joyful AND wholeheartedly successful. 

xxoo,