Once-A-Day Prescriptions for Joy
\n by: Keith Varnum<\/p>\n
1. Act whimsically at least once a day.<\/p>\n
Do something that is outrageous or totally out of character, out of the
\nbox, not the \u201cusual\u201d you. Invite spontaneity. Do something meaningless,
\nwithout any purpose or value\u2014just because you feel like it, just
\nbecause it\u2019s fun! Surprise yourself!<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t dress outside in. Dress inside out. Let your spirit define \u201cwho
\nyou are\u201d rather than the outside world. Don\u2019t rely on external
\nimage\u2014clothing, hairstyle, status symbols\u2014to tell people who you are.
\nWear your inner self proudly and let it attract what is most harmonious
\nto you.<\/p>\n
Expand your playground, your arena for self-expression. Practice
\nharmless and minor outrages. Seek a larger freedom in your life. In the
\nunexpected comes the joy of feeling truly alive.<\/p>\n
2. Throw away one item a day.<\/p>\n
Or give it away to Goodwill or someone who will actually use it. For
\nevery unused item you discard, you create the space for a truly useful
\nitem to come into your world.<\/p>\n
Clear the decks! A major cause of loss of energy is lots of \u201cstuff\u201d
\nthat accumulates around us. Schedule time to keep the piles\u2014physical
\nand mental\u2014from building up. If you don\u2019t, the backlog will sap your
\nenergy and overwhelm you. You may think that doing Feng-Shui takes too
\nmuch time, but creating open space in your world actually frees up more
\ntime and energy to attract the people and opportunities that will
\nreally satisfy your heart and soul.<\/p>\n
3. Every day forgive one act of yours or someone you know.<\/p>\n
By living a life of conscious self-acceptance and learning to forgive
\nourselves, we become able to forgive others. The gift of forgiveness is
\nfor ourselves, not the person who caused us pain. By forgiving, we are
\ntaking back the control that we have given over to those who we feel
\nhave hurt us.<\/p>\n
By learning to forgive others, we give ourselves the gift of freedom
\nfrom the past. Forgiveness loosens the debilitating constraints of
\nanger, resentment, cynicism and despair\u2014and frees our heart to swell
\nwith joy. When you feel someone has harmed you, try to understand the
\nsituation by putting yourself in his or her shoes. Stop holding others
\nand yourself hostage. Accept our human tendency to make mistakes and
\nmove forward.<\/p>\n
4. Meet one new person a day.<\/p>\n
Every human being has a unique story to tell\u2014and a special gift for
\nyou. Every personal life story you hear expands your own personal
\nhorizon of possibilities. Even a one-minute encounter with a stranger
\nenlarges your universe.<\/p>\n
5. Discover one new shape in Nature every day.<\/p>\n
As you encounter shapes and forms that are new to your awareness each
\nday, you increase the possibilities for re-shaping your world. As you
\nexpand your experience of the infinite spectrum of ways life expresses
\nitself on the planet, you add to the range of choices and options
\navailable to you.<\/p>\n
6. Every day ask one fresh question of life you\u2019ve never asked before.<\/p>\n
The quality and scope of one\u2019s life is determined by the quality and
\nscope of one\u2019s questions. Questions open doors, invite change, welcome
\nnew opportunities. Question the past\u2014liberate your future!<\/p>\n
7. Each day eat one new food you\u2019ve never eaten before.<\/p>\n
Or mix foods and ingredients that you\u2019ve never combined before. Or eat
\na type of cuisine you\u2019ve never enjoyed before. As you open to fresh
\nculinary experiences, you also open to fresh social and spiritual
\nadventures.<\/p>\n
8. Change one old entrenched attitude each day.<\/p>\n
Take ownership of your attitude. You control your attitude. It\u2019s not
\nsomething that you are genetically or environmentally stuck with. You
\ncan choose your attitude.<\/p>\n
Avoid all-or-nothing thinking. When we fall into the trap of the
\nall-or-nothing mindset, we experience any obstacle as equaling total
\nfailure of the entire project\u2014or of one\u2019s entire life. Try not to
\noverreact or blow events out of proportion. Focus on what is working in
\na situation, not on what\u2019s not working at the moment. Don\u2019t let the
\nlittle things drive you crazy, weigh you down or immobilize you.
\nLighten up, smile more, frown less.<\/p>\n
Remember that each step in life is just one small step\u2014and is not
\nnecessarily a vital or crucial step. If you don\u2019t succeed at that step,
\ntry another approach in another direction from another angle. Keep the
\nbig picture in mind. Breathe.<\/p>\n
9. Find a fresh aspect of your life to laugh about every day.<\/p>\n
How do angels fly? They take themselves lightly.<\/p>\n
Certainly there are times when life presents major challenges and one
\nneeds to act clearly and directly, but behaving responsibly and
\nefficiently does not by any means preclude humor and light-heartedness.
\nIn fact, a flexible, fluid, upbeat approach and attitude is crucial to
\nreleasing magic and miracles into the healing equation.<\/p>\n
Inspiration and breakthrough are often born from the spirit of
\nplayfulness and exuberance. A spontaneous wink, a funny smile, a comic
\ngesture can unlock deep fears and stress in a stern person or tense
\nsituation. Through conscious silliness the soul can emerge.<\/p>\n
Doctors, nurses and attendants now use “clowning” in hospitals to jolt
\nand move the healing process with patients. Scientific studies prove
\nthat when people are laughing and having fun, they experience less
\nphysical and psychological pain\u2014and recover faster. Laugh more, mend
\nquicker and live longer!<\/p>\n
10. Be silent and still once a day.<\/p>\n
Make regular time for yourself in which you can be totally alone. Just sit quietly with no expectations. Do nothing!<\/p>\n
This may feel very uncomfortable and strange in the beginning. Do it anyway.<\/p>\n
Give yourself time and space for the inner voice to make itself heard.
\nYour inner voice will speak either during that quiet time, or else
\nduring the events of the rest of your day. Or a synchronistic event
\nwill occur. Or someone will tell you the message you need to hear. Or
\nyou will get a sudden flash of insight in the shower or watching a
\nmovie.<\/p>\n
11. Tolerate one less undesirable aspect of your life each day.<\/p>\n
Take action to change the situations in which you are settling for less
\nthan your desired dream. You can only compromise yourself\u2014and your
\ndream\u2014so much before you lose sight of the vision altogether. The
\nthings you are putting up with keep you from being yourself and
\nevolving as a human being.<\/p>\n
Speak up. Once you know what you need, let others know. Be honest with
\nothers about your needs and boundaries. If you remain silent, you\u2019ll
\ndisappoint yourself and others more than the truth ever could do.<\/p>\n
12. Take on one fresh risk or challenge every day.<\/p>\n
Fear less, dare more. Take at least one action each day that scares
\nyou. Face one truth you haven\u2019t been able or willing to acknowledge
\nbefore. Don\u2019t let fear paralyze you. Set yourself free.<\/p>\n
Take your aliveness up a notch. Ask for more and reach for more.
\nUpgrade your dream. Revitalize your life. New experiences make our
\nlives richer.<\/p>\n
13. Tell one new person your dream everyday.<\/p>\n
Network. Elicit feedback from a trusted friend, mentor or family
\nmember. Listen to a neighbor, co-worker or store clerk. Value your
\nrelationships. Call someone who is uplifting, or uplift someone else.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s your joy\u2014to use or lose.<\/p>\n
About The Author<\/p>\n
Keith Varnum has 30 years of practical success as an author,
\naccupuncturist, personal coach, filmmaker, vision quest guide and
\ninternational seminar leader, and is the owner of
\nhttp:\/\/www.TheDream.com and http:\/\/TheCareerDoctor.net.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once-A-Day Prescriptions for Joy by: Keith Varnum 1. Act whimsically at least once a day. Do something that is outrageous or totally out of character, out of the box, not the \u201cusual\u201d you. Invite spontaneity. Do something meaningless, without any purpose or value\u2014just because you feel like it, just because it\u2019s fun! Surprise yourself! Don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacefulhippo.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}