Follow Your Joy Sparks

Joy Sparks turn your ride through life into a road trip of passion and enthusiasm. Follow your joy sparks. They are everywhere, like guiding stars in the sky, lighting your way to a happy life.

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I wish I were more like Winnie the Pooh.  Whether he’s visiting with a friend or going on an adventure, he follows his joy. He flows through life. When he encounters a problem, he sees it with clear, innocent eyes. He carries no “baggage†with him. He approaches every situation with an open mind and an open heart. And yet he solves problems and gets more done than wise Owl or busy Rabbit.

One of Pooh’s gifts is that he does not resist what is. He is fully present in his “now.†He isn’t stuck in the past or worrying about the future. And he doesn’t need a particular result or outcome in order to be happy. He just follows his “joy sparks†and takes life one day at a time.

We can follow our “sparks†too. Joy sparks turn our ride through life into a road trip of passion and enthusiasm. When we notice our feelings and let them flow peacefully through us, we begin to see that joy sparks are everywhere, like guiding stars in the sky, lighting our way to a happy life.

Sometimes sparks show up as, “I want this so badly.†Sometimes they feel like a soft whisper in our ear. And other times they show up as an exciting idea that we can’t get out of our head. One thing sparks have in common is that they come from love. This is one of the reasons we can trust our joy sparks. They are always focused on betterment, never the hurting or destruction of another. They never come from malice.

What I know for sure… is that when you follow your joy, magic happens. Living a life according to what you “must†do or “should†do is not a recipe for happiness. I know, I’ve tried it that way and it doesn’t work out. But when we open our hearts and start looking for our “joy sparks,†we find ourselves guided to a path that is uniquely and beautifully our own.

Your Top Ten Desires

Jospeh Campbell once wrote, “If you follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.â€

Today, I want you to write down your top ten desires as if they have already happened. Describe each in detail. This activity is a great way to tap into your “joy sparks.â€

I keep my top ten list in my wallet and whenever I think about it, I take it out and visualize each wish on it as if it has already come true. Several years ago I was diagnosed with macular degeneration, so on my “top ten desires†list I wrote:

“Thank you for my healthy eyes. The macular degeneration is gone and my eyes are now healthy. It feels so good not to have to worry about my eyesight. Thank you for my healthy eyes and healthy vision.† 

About six months later, I went to an eye specialist and had my eyes thoroughly examined. The doctor found no sign of macular degeneration.

You can also include your children’s desires on your list. Perhaps you might write something like, “Thank you so much for my children’s happy lives. They are each thriving in their own way and are happy and healthy.â€

What will you put on your list? What are your top ten desires?

Visualize the entries on your list again and again, as if they have already come true. Focus on how good you feel. Take some time with this exercise and do some deep thinking about what you really want. For many people, this is hard work. We live in a society that tells us what we must do and what we should do. But when is the last time anyone asked you what you want to do?

Be sure to write your desires down in past tense. If you write them in future tense, you can put yourself under pressure to achieve them. But if you write them in past tense, as if they have already happened…you relax, you start to believe, you smile, and you let that wish come to you.

With gratitude in your heart, think about what you really want and describe it as though it has already happened. Begin each desire with the words, “Thank you for_______.â€