So long to exhaustion, disconnection, and feeling overwhelmed. Hello energy, balance, and JOY!
“Joy is the difference between thriving and striving.” – Maya Angelou
I love this quote from Maya Angelou. As a WOBO woman who hit-the-wall, I read this often to remind myself of a basic life ingredient. Joy had often been missing for me and it is often the first thing to go when I get all twisted up in a WOBO state. In Ayurveda, joy is our highest purpose.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed my normal farewell is “To Your Joyous Success.” That is why I do what I do and what I try to focus on when I make decisions for myself. Truly, JOYOUS SUCCESS is what I want for you!
After decades of striving and neglecting many of my basic needs, my mind and body collapsed. I was forced to transform my life to regain my health. Why? Because I love being productive and getting stuff done, I love being active, and I love my independence. Hitting-the-wall took my ability to do all of that away and it scared the shit out of me. I had to teach myself how to be accomplished without running myself into the ground. It took a long time and I encountered many setbacks, but what I’ve learned can help you get there much more quickly and happily.
What is the secret to Joyous Success? It’s probably obvious that I love Deepak Chopra (his life and work are based on Ayurveda) and I’ve been a devotee of his 21-Day Meditation Challenges. The foundation of his challenges and of meditation is what holds the key to joyous success – self awareness. As he states in his Manifesting True Success challenge, “develop self-awareness so you can manifest the kind of success that is true to who you are.” That is the type of success that brings you joy.
Why joy? How is it different from happiness? Joy is not fleeting, happiness can be. Joy is experienced within and independent of external issues or problems. Our aim is to be truly joyful regardless of the external factors we all encounter in our lives. For a woman who is driven, self-motivated, and wants to accomplish things, finding and retaining internal joy is indispensible to achieving success without running herself into the ground. Joy is what will get you through the difficult times and allow you to remain strong and resilient along the bumpy road of life.
What does one do to have joyous success? It all starts by going within. By developing your self-awareness then making decisions aligned with your self-knowledge. Again I’m going to pull from Deepak Chopra’s meditation challenges (see you really should do them!). He talks about 3 mind states – the unconscious where the brain doesn’t need specific instructions, aware where we recognize our actions but only on a superficial level, and self-aware where you ask questions and reflect, where your reality shifts, and your actions reflect the needs of your spirit/soul. Being self-aware is necessary to restore balance to your life. You can only create healthy habits by consciously making decisions with a full awareness of yourself and what you need and want at a deep, basic level.
I’m so excited to talk about the concept of joyous success throughout the year with you. I hope you keep reading and better yet, take action to leave the draining WOBO state behind. I have a couple events happening this month that will help you do just that. Take a small step forward and join me!
