I Want Joy In My Life:
A lot of the time I work with people who say I want joy in my life, or I’m not connecting to joy, or I want joy back in my life. How do we do this?
Every day we are confronted with situations where we have a choice. There are things that we feel we have to do, things that we feel we should do, and then there are the things that we really want to do and that bring us joy.
I had a bit of a dilemma recently.
I had bought a ticket to see Anita Moorjani, author of the amazing book ‘Dying To Be Me’.
Her book really spoke to me, and as soon as I read it a couple of years ago, I wrote to her and asked her if she would come to Dublin (I got a very nice reply from her assistant).
And then I wrote to someone here in Ireland who organises large spiritual type events and deals with the big names, and asked her if she would bring her to Dublin. When I met this conference organiser about a year later, I asked her again when she was bringing Anita Moorjani to Dublin.
Being the fan that I was, when I was in Hong Kong 18 months ago, teaching EFT/tapping, I had set an intention of meeting Anita there (she is from Hong Kong).
Well, I didn’t get to meet her – although I did meet her ex-neighbour who knew her quite well – oh so close!
So, as you can see, I really am a fan. And I was so excited I bought my ticket as soon as I saw the event. I might get to finally meet Anita herself in person (and get her to sign my well-worn book).
So, what’s the problem?
Well, the night she is going to be in Dublin, clashes with another great passion of mine.
Olive oil!
I love the taste of olive oil, always seek out new and interesting oils when I am away, load up my suitcase with various oils – and am just such a fan. I never claim to know a lot about it, but at this stage, I certainly know what I like.
And then, imagine when I read about an olive oil tasting group here in Dublin. Well, as they say here ‘Christmas in July’! I was thrilled, delighted, excited….
And when I went along to the first tasting event, it was seriously SUCH a good evening.
Talking about olive oil, tasting it, learning more about how olives are grown, how to store it, different flavour notes, eating delicious olives, meeting people who felt the same AND wanted to talk about it – seriously, couldn’t believe you could have so much fun talking about olive oil.
The problem was that the next olive oil tasting evening is on the same night as Anita Moorjani is here in Dublin.
Anita who I have wanted to meet for 3 or 4 years. Anita who had a near death experience and came back with all of this amazing insight. Anita who healed herself of stage 4 terminal cancer.
What to do?
I really had to think long and hard about this. I had been so looking forward to seeing Anita Moorjani. I probably should go (it would be a good ‘worthy’ event). There probably would be loads of interesting people there, maybe I’ll never get a chance to see her again in Dublin, I should go because I work in this area, might meet some prospective clients, blah, blah, blah …. and so on.
Then I asked myself: what would bring me the most joy? Because I want joy in my life.
And the truth of the matter is, that actually going to the olive oil tasting would definitely bring me more joy, has me feeling more excited and more passionate.
So, now that I know what brings me more joy, am I actually going to do something about it?
I sat on this for a bit longer, (what about the money I have spent on the ticket?) and eventually made my decision. I chose olive oil.
I knew someone who would be interested in going. I explained my dilemma to her, and that I was choosing olive oil and she laughed and said, well Anita would say that you made the right decision!
Deal done, and this person is delighted to now be going to see Anita (I’ve asked her to take notes!!). The arrangement works for both of us.
This situation made me re-look at Anita’s great book ‘Dying To Be Me’, and I came across one part of it where she says when she was in her near death state (note: this is her experience, you may have a different opinion or experience):
‘While I was in that state of clarity in the other realm, I instinctively understood that I was dying because of all my fears. I wasn’t expressing my true self because my worries were preventing me from doing so.’
So, going to see Anita wasn’t expressing my true self, and what I really wanted to do (it would have been more about fear of losing out/not making contacts etc). For me, I want joy in my life and remembering to make that choice for me.
It reminds me of the ad for oven chips (French fries for our US friends), and the little girl is trying to decide and is saying in her head ‘daddy or chips, daddy or chips?’
Sometimes ‘chips’ is the right answer.
So, if you have difficulty connecting to joy, want more joy in your life or have difficulty making a decision, contact me at [email protected] to have a chat, and let’s see how I can help you.
Onwards!
Grainne