6 Secrets to Lead a Joyful Life
Life is much better when it is joyful and merrier.
Isn’t it so?
It saddens me when I see people living a busy life chasing superficial happiness in the form of clothes, cars, gadgets and forgetting what real joy actually feels like. All these materialistic things could buy you instantaneous joy but are far away from real happiness.
What is a joyful life?
It is quite hard to actually define a joyful life as different people associate happiness or joy with different things. In simpler words, when you are living in a happier space being grateful for everything there is in your life from relationships to materials — that’s how a joyful life looks like to me.
Of course, the definition is open to multiple interpretations and frankly, that is exactly how it should be. After all, you shouldn’t be following someone else’s version of happiness. To all those reading this post, I would suggest you to pause for a while and think about your version of a joyful life. Imagine all the things that you need to be happy in life.
Done?
Since now when you have an idea of how your joyful life looks like, let’s move forward and talk about why is it necessary, in fact crucial to lead a joyful and content life. Although I don’t think you need reasons to be happy in life but if you do, here are some of them:
Boosts motivation, energy, and health
Lengthens life expectancy
Positive effects on boosting productivity
Lowers the risk of cardiovascular diseases
Makes you look and feel younger
Keeps stress at bay
Better physical health
Stronger immunity levels
Makes you calmer and mentally stronger
Greater self-control and coping skills
Now that you know why is it important to lead a joyful life, it’s the right time to discuss how one can lead such a life. Let’s take a look at the following seven secrets that could help you lead a happier and joyful life:
Start living with no regrets
One of the biggest reasons to your sad and empty life is your unfulfilled wishes and long-held resentments. Oftentimes, the saddest summary of life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have. Start doing things that you always wanted to do, tick them off your bucket-list, and start living a life with no regrets.
If you always wanted to be a chef, enrol yourself in a culinary course. If you wanted to write a book, start writing it. If someone has done bad to you, let them how they made you feel about it and forgive them. Life is all about savoring every moment and making the most of it. These little joys will make your life more joyful.
2. Start looking out for your passion
There is no joy like working day in and day out on something you’re really passionate about. Knowing that you are dedicating your life to something purposeful is a hard feeling to be expressed in words. The thing about passion is that it makes your life both beautiful and worth living for.
If you haven’t found your passion yet, it’s absolutely okay. Just keep looking for it and don’t settle. Interestingly, some people have multiple passions and if that’s the case with you, go after them and keep doing things that make you happy and your life better.
3. Start spending some time in nature
People who feel a connection to nature and believe that nature is important to their lives are generally happier than those who don’t. If you find it hard to believe this, there a scientific explanation to it as well. It says that when we observe the beauty of nature, our bodies produce lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines that makes our mood better.
You get a sense of calmness when you spend considerable time in green settings. The fresh oxygen, beautiful mix of colors, and the serenity can change your mood in an instant and boost your happiness levels.
4. Start looking after yourself
People often tend to forget that happiness starts from within. Nothing in this world can make you happier if you are not happier from inside. You must learn to look after yourself if you want to live a joyful life. The first step to do this is to start looking after your body.
Get a gym membership, join a yoga class, go hiking, swim, or bicycle — start with whatever you find interesting. Apart from physical fitness, if you think you need to learn a specific skill to be better at something, just go for it.
5. Start giving back to the society
There is no such joy than knowing that you have added value in someone else’s life — however small or big that contribution be. Giving back to the society not only helps us to be generous and benevolent but also gives us a sense of purpose. It also makes you happier knowing that once you did something for others not just for yourself.
Helping others in any capacity makes us a dutiful human being and responsible individuals. To quote Denzel Washington,
“At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or what you’ve accomplished… It’s all about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”
6. Start investing in your growth
The one thing that is strikingly similar among all successful folks is that they are damn serious about their growth — mental, physical, intellectual, and financial. Knowing the very fact that you are becoming better with every passing day helps you enjoy your life even more.
You can start reading books, blogs, watch inspirational videos, read interviews, listen to podcasts to stimulate your growth. All these habits and actions will have a profound effect on your overall well-being and happiness.
Over to you
You have got only one life and it’s totally up to you whether you would like to act on it or be acted upon. Happiness and joyfulness is very simple, don’t complicate it by thinking too much about it.
I hope you like reading the article, if you want me to write or share my experience on something specific, let me know in the comments section.