Joy isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. But how do we find joy—and hold onto it—when so much in our life stands in the way? Living Joy: 9 Rules to Help You Rediscover and Live Joy Every Day equips you with the wisdom you need to experience joy to the fullest. With evidence, experience, and common sense, Chris Stefanick presents nine rules that will empower you to overcome the obstacles that are keeping you from unspeakable joy. You’ll learn why gratitude is the first key to unlocking deep joy silence creates space in your life for happiness rest, friendship, and fun are integral to joyful living and so much more. No matter the circumstances of your life, Living Joy will show you exactly how you can claim the joy you were created for.
In a fast-paced world where you work far more than you relax and reflect, Suzanne Falter-Barns has made it her mission in life to inspire you to be "your sweet old self-the one you've always known was there." In Living Your Joy, she gives you the courage to trade the job you hate for the work you love, find time and space for creative expression, start your dream business, and live the life you have always wanted. Suzanne's fresh, funny, and utterly practical book helps you melt your fears and tap into the inner wisdom that is your true guide to fulfillment. Dozens of inspiring true stories and many exercises are designed to bring clarity to your thinking and help you master the nitty-gritty of getting from where you are to where you want to be; create your spiritual base camp; know when to leap and when not to leap; and discover the incredible value of emptiness. Master the essential art of staying focused and everything else you need to know to change your life for good-really good.
What is joy? Ask ten different people and you'll get ten different answers. Yet if you asked: a man who grew up fatherless and destitute in the slums of Atlanta a young widow who decided to bring a neglected garden back to life in spite of agonizing physical pain and a deeply wounded spirit or author Dan Lord himself, ex-frontman for a popular indie rock band each would point to the one source of their joy: Jesus. They made the choice for joy, against all odds, and so can you, though the obstacles might seem insurmountable. Worry and anxiety, pain and suffering, the daily grind -- all these and more can block your path. When faced with such challenges, is it possible to get past the barriers, let go, and experience God's joy? When you look around, you might wonder -- although joy is a fruit of the Spirit, it doesn't seem to be hanging visibly from many Christian boughs. Choosing Joy aims to change that -- and change your life in the process -- as it helps you discover the key to this most attractive but seemingly elusive gift. Choosing Joy will help you overcome the obstacles and focus your heart, mind and strength on God so that you can receive the happiness and peace that the world cannot give.
Make small changes to your surroundings and create extraordinary happiness in your life with groundbreaking research from designer and TED star Ingrid Fetell Lee. Next Big Idea Club selection—chosen by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Dan Pink, and Adam Grant as one of the "two most groundbreaking new nonfiction reads of the season!" "This book has the power to change everything! Writing with depth, wit, and insight, Ingrid Fetell Lee shares all you need to know in order to create external environments that give rise to inner joy." —Susan Cain, author of Quiet and founder of Quiet Revolution Have you ever wondered why we stop to watch the orange glow that arrives before sunset, or why we flock to see cherry blossoms bloom in spring? Is there a reason that people—regardless of gender, age, culture, or ethnicity—are mesmerized by baby animals, and can't help but smile when they see a burst of confetti or a cluster of colorful balloons? We are often made to feel that the physical world has little or no impact on our inner joy. Increasingly, experts urge us to find balance and calm by looking inward—through mindfulness or meditation—and muting the outside world. But what if the natural vibrancy of our surroundings is actually our most renewable and easily accessible source of joy? In Joyful, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explores how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising and powerful effects on our mood. Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she explains why one setting makes us feel anxious or competitive, while another fosters acceptance and delight—and, most importantly, she reveals how we can harness the power of our surroundings to live fuller, healthier, and truly joyful lives.
We all spend a lot of energy reaching for happiness, but we're never quite able to hang on to it. Real life happens, and our circumstances take us on an emotional rollercoaster. Oftentimes, the Bible's call to "be joyful always" seems out of reach--but it doesn't have to be. We are called to live. And, miraculously, to live with joy. Join bestselling author Stasi Eldredge as she shows us how to choose a joy that stands against the tides of life's real and often overwhelming pain. Defiant Joy reminds us that a joy that is defiant in the face of this broken world was meant to be ours. This joy isn't simply happiness on steroids, it's the unyielding belief that sorrow and loss do not have the final say. It's the stubborn determination to be present in whatever may come and interpret both goodness and grief by the light of heaven. Defiant Joy will give you the encouragement you need to: Finally experience daily joy Learn how to have a posture of holy defiance when circumstances threaten to weigh down your soul Find new perspectives on the painful circumstances you've faced In Defiant Joy, Stasi invites us with courage, candor, and tender vulnerability to a place beyond sadness or happiness, leading the way as we learn how to maintain a posture of holy defiance that neither denies nor diminishes our pain but dares to live with expectant, unwavering hope.
"While happines is in part genetically determined, a large proportion of our chances for happiness lies within our control. Part self-help book, part psychology primer, LIVE HAPPY will inform your attitudes and inspire a positive outlook. Written by two leading positive psychologists and harnessing the latest research, this affirmative guide features 100 pieces of proven advice to help you take charge of your life choices and find your own fulfillment." -- page 4 of cover.
The Art of Living Well: How to Find Joy and Love Your Life details a path to increased creativity, compassion, and joyfulness. It follows a trail blazed by the sages of western civilization, stopping at four points along the way. The first, the Oracle of Delphi - the Holiest of the Holies in the ancient Greek world - greets us with the words emblazoned on its entryway: "Know Thyself." Through these words we will come to an appreciation that Love stands at the very center of our being. We then meet the words of Polonius, a character in Shakespeare's Hamlet, who advises his son: "To thine own self be true." In this section we will learn to forge the Love we've uncovered into a tool of forgiveness, and we will use it to heal the buried hurts and pains from the past. Freed and bolstered with a newly strengthened sense of self, we next stand before the urgings of Ralph Waldo Emerson - Trust thyself. Here, we will learn how to trust the deepest within ourselves and the deepest in the world. At our last stopping point we find the words of friends and loved ones, not the wisdom of sages. They tell us to be ourselves-words that sound so simple-and we will see that we have developed the exact skills to live this way. The prize for our efforts is the art of living well: we will be able to find joy and love life in all of our various settings and roles. The author applies his more than thirty years as a physician, educator and striver in laying out an approach that is available to anyone who is willing to work with heart, mind, and commitment. Inner exercises complement the ideas presented in these pages, allowing readers to find their own insight and discoveries. These pages are available to anyone who feels there is more to life than what is merely seen with the eye."
