Joie de Vivre: Are You Holding Yourself Back from Happiness?

joie de vi·vre
ˌZHwä də ˈvēvrə/
exuberant enjoyment of life

What makes you happy? 
(No, happier... even happier... there ya go!)

🙃 What makes you so happy you don't even realize you're whistling and dancing in public?

😂 What makes you laugh so hard you cry (and maybe even pee your pants a little)? 

😍 What or who do you love so deeply that your heart inflates like a balloon just at the thought of it/them?

I can easily write a list a mile long of people, places, and things that bring me that buoyant and almost-overflowing feeling of joy. I am so grateful for the life I live today, yet know exactly what it feels like on the exact opposite end of the spectrum.

More than likely, you fall somewhere in the middle. You may not be completely paralyzed by depression and anxiety, but you may not be living on cloud nine either. You could be sitting solidly in the middle, going about your day-to-day routine, watching the same Netflix series, and talking to the same people who don't really add to your life. 

Taking a step back and looking at it, life feels mundane. Is this what it was supposed to be? Is this what you dreamed of when you were a child? What happened to those big crazy dreams of yours?

When it comes down to it, your tiny-self knew something extraordinary that we, as adults, seem to forget: 

Life is as good as you choose to make it. 

So let's decide to do something wild here. Let's choose happiness. Let's choose joie de vivre.

Strip back the chaos, the excuses, the guilt, the feeling of obligation to others. Stop saying you're just not a happy person or hiding the beautifully-quirky personality that's deep within. You're only doing yourself (and the world) an injustice. 

Sit and think of what fills your heart and body with such exuberant joy that you can hardly sit still any longer. Write that list. Dare yourself to say "YES" and put your own happiness first. 

You deserve all the happiness in the world... and the good news is there is plenty to go around.

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