When was the last time you took a good hard look at the joy in your life? Joy is easy to take for granted. We can easily forget how important it is for both our emotional and physical well-being. We need it just as we need any other basic necessity in life. Think how much harder things are when you can’t find joy in anything.

If you are suffering from a health issue or significant stress losing all sight of joy can happen pretty easily. You are so use to feeling so lousy, fearful or overwhelmed that it’s as if you become immune to things like joy. That’s when it’s most crucial to give yourself a regular dose of joy. Think of it as a healthy prescription! Simply remind yourself to find joy each day, the same way you remind yourself to take your vitamins. Eating healthy and exercise will definitely help in making you feel more joyful, but you may need some extra help in really experiencing joy.

Finding joy doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult. But for some us, it’s the absolute last thing we are looking for when our health and/or personal life aren’t going well. We allow ourselves to get stuck feeling miserable and see only the negative energy all around us. Think of the last time you had a really good day where you enjoyed yourself. If you’re really having trouble thinking of when that was, then you may need to try a little harder to bring some joy back into your life.

Intuitively, you already know where to find joy, you just have to ask for it. So start paying attention to those things in your daily life that can bring you some joy: how something tastes, something your child says, sunshine, music, a funny movie, dancing or Youtube videos of babies laughing. Initially, your joy level may be low, like a one on a scale of one to ten. But the next time, it might be higher, like a three out of ten. Before you know it, the sensation of that joy will become greater and greater. Who knows, you may even get to the point where you will be jumping for joy!

Once you start seeking out more joy, you’ll notice that it starts finding you more easily as well. Every day, there are so many simple moments filled with joyful pleasures. Embrace them and let yourself feel their positive energy. Once you do, you’ll start focusing on more of the good in your life thus creating more joy.

Where did you find joy in your life today?