Make the Conscious Decision

Occupy Joy: Why we need to focus on Joy! We are continually bombarded by negative news. It’s hard not to get depressed if you listen too closely. I know that choosing to focus on the joy in your life will only bring more joy into it. It really begins with us first. When you feel joy, you will spread joy to those around you and make them feel better too. Like a pebble dropped into the water, making a conscious decision to live a joyous life will have positive ripple effects in your whole life. That’s why we decided to start the Joy Movement. If we can bring a higher awareness to choosing to focus on those things that give you joy, we are certain it’ll have a great ripple effect on our families and communities. And if enough people join, it can have some wonderful effects on our society and our world! Since we have started a Joy Movement, we were curious to see how people are really feeling. We decided to do some market research and created a Joy Survey to see what really makes people happy and joyful in their lives. Over 700 people responded and the final results were not so unexpected but rather it was good to get confirmation. The first question we asked was what the top five things were that brought joy into their lives. The top answers for what makes people happy are: Children/Grandchildren/Family 67.2% Friends 57.1% Marriage/Relationship/Intimacy 55.7% Faith/Religion/Spirituality 52.5% Health/Well Being 48.1% Then we asked to choose the #1 thing that brings the greatest joy in their lives: Children/Grandchildren 28.9% God/Faith/Religion/Spirituality 25.4% It is interesting to see confirmation of how important our children, families, and relationships are. That tells us that as human beings we have a natural need to be connected to others on a meaningful level. The lowest answers for both questions were how much money you earn (6.2%) and Job/Career/Business (0.9%). Yet how much of our time are we thinking about or worrying about these two areas of our lives? It’s worth reflecting on a bit so that we really do focus on what makes us happy and joyful in our lives. The last question we asked was “do you consider yourself to be a happy, joyful person?” Here 56.6% replied often, most of the time but not always. Another 30% said that yes, always, I see the good in everything. Only 11.2% answered sometimes, about 50-50 and 2.2% answered no, not at all. This shows that 86.6% of the people surveyed consider themselves happy and joyful most of the time or more. Why isn’t this reflected in the media? It’s great to hear that so many people feel positive about their lives. Part of our Joy Movement is to bring a greater awareness that you can live a joyful life. If the majority of people already are feeling pretty good, then we should celebrate and show the people who may not be feeling quite so joyful that it is possible for them too. Giving joy to others is just one of the ways we recommend that you can have more joy in your life. What are you doing to live a joyous life? What are your thoughts focused in on most of the time? And how can you bring more joy into your life? Here’s to living joyfully!