‘Joy’ is a sensation experienced by those who adopt a positive mindset and outlook on life. In this state our minds are at ease and we feel content with our own reality. Joyful people are courageous and feel inspired to be a better version of themselves. ‘Joy’ is a useful state and can help us overcome challenges and obstacles. The degree to which we experience this joyful state often depends on our individual perspectives.
How Does Perspective Determine Joy?
1. Our perspective can help facilitate long-term solutions to the challenges we face
Changing how we view the events we encounter can help us immerge victoriously. Altering your view so that you perceive what appears to be a negative event as something more positive can give you the strength and resourcefulness you need to tailor a solution that will enhance the quality of your life. For example, if your business suffers a loss, you can choose to dwell on the unfavourable consequences, or you can choose to focus on what this incident has taught you and how you will use that new found knowledge to make improvements going forward.
Taking a positive stance towards life’s events will cushion the impact of a crisis, increase the levels of joy you feel and reduce your stress.
2. Changing our perspective eases our pain
Life, just like a journey, is bound to come to an end at some point. The death of a loved one can leave us devastated and broken. Altering your thought process and perspective in a hurtful occurrence can have a significant impact on your ability to cope with the loss and help prevent suffering from long-term misery and shut down. You may decide that, instead of allowing the pain of the loss to consume you, you’ll focus on the fact that they are angels now, in a better place or free from pain and misery. You may wish to celebrate their life and achievements, and the positive influence that they had on you. This will accelerate the healing process and help you to move on with your life amicably.
Never letting go of that pain and allowing the tragedy of death to cloud your mind will only result in a bitterness that will be extremely hard to shift. The same principle applies to the loss of friendships, jobs, homes and relationships.
3. Changing our perspective inspires new ideas and helps us make better decisions
How you choose to handle different situations will determine the outcome, and you do have a choice. Adapting a ‘joyful’ state and mindset means that, regardless of the storms that come your way, you’ll won’t lose this feeling. Negative events may inspire ideas that may not have dawned on you before. For example, a burglar breaking into your home is an opportunity to invest in a better security system or upgrade to better electronics. If the burglars get to the extra key hidden under your flower pot, you will be inspired to seek more creative ways to hide that extra key.
Negative events help us make better and wiser decisions. The loss of a job may make you realise that it wasn’t the best fit for you and in turn this will help you secure a role that is a great fit for you next time round.
The more you strive to conjure the virtue that is joy, the easier you’ll find it to embrace the smaller things in life that contribute to your happiness overall. A joyful person finds peace in the sound of a child laughing, a bird chirping, raindrops against their window, the soft wind against their cheek, in the smile of a stranger. Despite the black clouds that hover over them, the world they live in is a happy place, because they have chosen to interpret their reality as one that is positive.
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