Happiness tips

   Tips for Stress free life  >  Expert Zone   > Happiness

       Happiness Tips by experts


Uncovering Your Joy: Using a Personal Journal to Discover a Life Filled with Happiness


Author Tristine Rainer wrote "Happiness within a diary has less to do with the events you encounter in life than with the way you experience the process of living." Because a diary mirrors how you perceive and deal with events, it can be used for developing the capacity to more fully experience joy.

Do you use your journal only for problem-solving, dark days, sorrowful feelings, or depressive thoughts? If so, why not start recording the happiness's as well. In fact, why not keep a special Joy Journal? That way, when you're having a bad day, just pull out your Joy Journal and re-experience the small happiness's.

Will keeping a journal actually bring you joy? No. However, many diarists have used their journals to alter their perceptions and in the process achieve a joy filled life. For example, Rainer cites one woman's first attempt at writing positive emotions, after years of negative entries:

"As we walked to the fruit stand at twilight, I was overcome with ecstasy. Each house had a new charm and a story to tell. Colors seemed to have been applied with a brush. At the stand each orange demanded a caress. . . "

Do you see how an everyday walk to the store became a sensory delight? All because the writer began to alter her perception of the experience.

To begin your Joy Journal, we suggest a Rainer-inspired technique called a List of Joys. Use this technique to collect the joyful moments of your life. You can list things that make you happy on a routine basis (like watching a sunset), or extraordinary events that put a smile on your face. Your list might look something like this:

1. I really, really, really felt the grass between my toes and it made me feel like one living creature (me) was intimately communicating with another (the grass).

2. Listening to of Lorena McKinnett's Dante's Prayer filled my body with an intense rush of love. How could anyone write something so unearthly beautiful?

3. I rode my bicycle today and the feeling of the breeze rushing through my hair made me feel like I was 10 years old. What joy!

Help balance those serious, difficult days by re-reading your Joy Journal, and remembering that life IS filled with moments of pure happiness.

Copyright 2004 Patti Testerman


Journal Genie, The Website That Talks Back
http://www.journalgenie.com

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included and the resource box is left unchanged. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

About The Author

Patti Testerman is content manager at JournalGenie.com, the only online site that analyzes your writing and then gives you instant feedback. Discover self-defeating patterns, find better ways to communicate in relationships. Contact her at mailto:patti@journalgenie.com


MORE RESOURCES:

See the complete list of Articles on Happiness here

Have a look at Best Selling Books on Happiness

 

Google

See also : Other articles on

Depression, Happiness, Humor, Inspirational, Motivation,
Positive Attitude
,  Meditation, Spirituality


 

Latest info on : Happiness

 


Richmond Style Weekly

Love, Happiness and Higher Taxes
Richmond Style Weekly, VA - 6 hours ago
It’s nearly universal public policy: Lowering taxes makes the economy stronger. But what if the opposite were true? by Scott Bass As legacies go, ...


Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness heads to US
Nintendic - 14 hours ago
... for the Nintendo Wii, the Japanese firm has announced that Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS will also be making its way Stateside. ...
Harvest Moon ushers in Happiness, Tranquility GameSpot
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility confirmed for US Nintendic
all 3 news articles


VIEW: Economics of happiness —Feisal Naqvi
Daily Times, Pakistan - Jul 7, 2008
The final issue then remains that of happiness. Well, most people like spending time with their families. More family life therefore means more happiness. ...


Blue shoes and happiness
Malay Mail, Malaysia - 57 minutes ago
... actually reminds me of another Jewish bloke, the American filmmaker Todd Solondz, whose film Happiness was such an entertaining parade of – you guessed ...


The pursuit of happiness: it's good to talk... or is it?
Independent, UK - Jul 7, 2008
The belief that cognitive behaviour therapy is the most effective way of treating depression is wrong, claim leading psychotherapists. ...


Happiness for the performance of the sportsman of Nuevitas Omar ...
Radio Nuevitas, Cuba - 7 hours ago
Nuevitas, July 7th -Great happiness caused among the people of Nuevitas that the four Cubans, made up of the sportsman of this riverside city Omar Cisneros ...


Gay marriage: the key to happiness?
Los Angeles Times, CA - Jul 6, 2008
How exactly, you ask, is gay marriage connected with "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"? It's simple. According to surveys, in developed countries ...


RussiaToday

Russia celebrates Day of Married Love and Family Happiness
RIA Novosti, Russia - 16 hours ago
MUROM, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - More than 20 Russian regions from Moscow to Vladivostok celebrated on Tuesday the Day of Married Love and Family Happiness, ...
Family Day celebrated in Russia RussiaToday
all 2 news articles


Summertime: Let's get happy!
The Gazette (Montreal), Canada - 19 hours ago
All this raises the compelling question of happiness. I've just run across a time index of Canadian happiness, a sketchy one, albeit, with only six data ...


Exclusive: Something Is Ironic In The State of Denmark - Listen Up ...
Family Security Matters, NJ - Jul 7, 2008
In fact, 40 of the 52 nations saw a rise in happiness, contradicting what most scientists who study happiness believe. Inglehart's team speculate that this ...

Happiness - Google News

Why not be an expert yourself  ?

 If you can write on any of the above topic, you are welcome to submit your
 articles in our database :

 Submit your article here   Our Article Area

You are here Home > Tips for Stress free Life > Useful articles on Meditation


| Meditation Article Home | All articles on Meditation-complete list 

 Main Home | | Meditation Corner

                |Health Tips  | Workplace Tips  | Soul Tips  |

Recommend us  |

 Books, DVDs and accessories on meditation & yoga  |

[About us] [Contact] [Privacy Policy]

Copyright 2006, Meditation is Easy.com, All rights reserved