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Showing posts with label joy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joy. Show all posts

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Abundance Surrounds Us

I've been reading a book called The Wealth Diet by Kathy Zant, and going through the exercises. I've also been reading a book about simple living, and going through those exercises. You wouldn't think these two books would have anything in common, but the exercises are similar in each book. I'm thinking about simplicity and abundance in so many different ways, and it hit me the other day how abundance surrounds us.

When we think about abundance, we typically think money. We need more money, we want more money. But abundance is in everything - our home, our family, our joys, our passions. We can be abundant in talent and gifts, happiness and joy.

I had read a section in The Wealth Diet where Kathy mentioned people walking over money found in the street. How many times have you done that? How many times have you passed over a quarter or a dime or even a penny? I found $10 once at a park in the parking lot. We found money on the sidewalk at the mall. On this particular day, I needed a dime so I could have enough money for the vending machine. I started digging through my purse and found three dimes. The next day my husband had mentioned we needed a new mop head. That night, he told me he'd gotten three at work. They were being tossed out during a renovation of the store where he works. And it hit me - this is abundance.

Abundance is God providing all we need and more. I needed a dime - he provided three. We needed a mop head - he provided three. My husband also received a wall locker that he's using to store books and games in in our family room. This is abundance, and if we keep our eyes open we can see it surrounding us.

How have you experienced abundance in your life, no matter how small it may seem?

Friday, May 11, 2012

Finding Joy

I loved this article by Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing) from Felicity Huffman's website, all about finding her joy.

Baby Steps Into Joy

She discusses about how she'd always had difficulty learning dance combinations, but now says:

"Now, the only the difference is: I DON’T CARE! I want the best shortcut to JOY..."

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, we want to feel good, or at least better. We want to do what makes us happy and fulfilled. That could be dancing, or exercise, or watching a movie or hanging out with a loved one. There has to be something that brings each of us, in our own way, to joy.

There are lots of things for me. Watching Glee, listening to positive music, writing, playing with the dogs, being in nature. All of these things are shortcuts to joy.

I love how she mentions loving to dance when she was younger, but giving it up because she thought she was "too old."

"And if that weren’t enough, I was more attached to my own limiting belief systems about being “too old” or some such crap than I was attached to my own happiness." (Emphasis mine. Sounds like Jennifer may know a little something about LOA)

She recognized her limiting beliefs about her age and abilities. We all have them. We're too young, too old, too fat, too thin, too broke, have no talent, will never succeed, so what's the point? Let's get to the point where we say as well, we don't care. Doing this makes me happy, and I want to be happy.

What are some of your limiting beliefs? How have you overcome them, or have you?