Being born with healthy doses of joy and sticking to it has led me to live an uncommon lifestyle compared to many mainstream ideals. It’s also led me to success – when I’ve allowed it – in ways that have felt , dare I say, easy. But there have been times, like any human on earth, that staying in joy felt like a battle. I learned, though, that letting joy go was the costliest mistake.
Let me share with you more of what I mean, with the desire that you too will begin ‘sticking’ to joy more often when you realize its incredible gift.
A Slightly Uncommon Lifestyle
My lifestyle isn’t radical, but sometimes it can feel like it. I’m comparing it to mainstream ideals happening in an orderly way: higher education, job, marriage, house, kids, commitment to seeking security.
Don’t get me wrong, I was raised to want all of these things and I do believe in them, all except one: the commitment to security. Security…huh? That feels like being locked down in a predictable sort of prison. “How utterly boring!” is what my inner joy shouts. Interestingly, this one thing that I couldn’t abide by, seemed to shake the orderly path to pieces!
So while I got as far as the education and job, the heaviness of the expectations pre-marked along the way were far too much for my spirit to bear. The rules and regulations felt onerous. I could not in good faith continue where my heart couldn’t soar. My joy wouldn’t have it.
My soul was knocking too loudly. My uncommon path at the time meant leaving jobs that I had outgrown, often within a couple of years – by adding travel, working overseas, meeting cool people living extraordinary lives (new action) – essentially seeking adventure to meet my need to feel alive and be in joy.
Eventually, my joy had me leave the job world which felt too limiting and start my own business (new action). I had to chart my own path where my fuller expression could be born.
The insistence on being in joy kept leading me.
“Easy” Successes
This part is going to ruffle some feather since so many people love “hard” work and will fight tooth and nail to defend their right to it and its necessity. I have to tell you though, it’s not hard work that gave me results. Sure I’ve worked for things, but that doesn’t meant they were gruelling. In fact, the successful results always came easily, while things I didn’t enjoy felt hard and often wouldn’t work.
On a number of occasions, whether it be job interviews back in my 20s or speaking to potential clients in business, it was my total joy and enthusiasm that led me to great opportunities. My passion for human resources led me to landing a long-term contract with my first consulting client in 2 months. I remember being at a health fair where I was chatting enthusiastically about a fitness class I taught (while in my start-up) when a fellow invited me to lead their educational wellness seminars for corporations. And, my joy and belief in personal transformation has been attracting awesome high-end coaching clients in recent years. (The first sale was easy because I wasn’t actually trying to sell anything, just sharing what I was up to!).
Joy releases limits. It magnetizes opportunities.
Losing Joy
At times, I forgot about joy. I got mixed up listening to people talk about all those fancy or tedious marketing techniques or business approaches. I began to “try” to grow my business. My joy began to disappear. I began to second-guess myself. I felt paralyzed and overwhelmed.
The desire to act began to disappear out of the fear of getting it wrong.
I knew I had lost my true presence, but I couldn’t find my way back easily, being so caught up in everything around me and the limiting beliefs that were touted. Then, my bottom line became affected, or should I say, infected. How could I muster up joy now? Fear, doubt, worry stop creative thought. They bring fresh ideas to a standstill. They choke true intentions. They crush progress.
Realizing What Counts
When you find yourself going in the wrong direction, it’s time to get radical and go to the source. It was time to renew my commitment to joy. Losing joy was like walking away from my own heart, and what’s the point of life then? I had to realize that no matter what was happening on the outside, joy was more important.
Joy is our natural state.
I cannot describe the feeling of knowing I could return to myself with or without the material status points! Joy is my natural state. And I bet it’s yours too if you get honest. After all, joy is being alive. They are linked. Joy accepts all that’s going on. It accepts the times of sadness, defeat, heartache because they are a part of life. It doesn’t have to dwell in them. This emboldens joy. It is life.
With me back in joy’s court, I began to take new risks. I let go of things and people that weren’t supportive, kind, or joyful, or they went away. I found my true enthusiasm and confidence. Clients began to show up, one by one, more steadily. I returned to delivering and truly devoting myself to what I love. New friends showed up that are passionate, committed, and sincere. Everything wasn’t “perfect” overnight, but it was my life again.
Now, joy is guiding me to raise the bar once again and go for a brighter level of success and personal fulfillment that feels right, having understood what’s true.
What About You?
What is being apart from joy costing you? What if you devoted yourself to your joy? What if the true foundation of success is joy? What would you create if you could create anything (which you can)? Let joy empower your actions. It knows the way.
Jasjit Rai is a Life and Success Coach, Personal Stylist, and Nia Black Belt Teacher. She loves guiding those that want to live extraordinary lives that include both material success and inner fulfillment through their unique joy path.
