Do you know the fastest way to joy?

How can you feel completely satisfied within yourself and your present circumstances while at the same time have desires for the future?  Aren’t they conflicting feelings?  Yes and no.  This is what I mean.

To live in the peaceful expression of joy, you must appreciate the now – where you’re standing at this very moment.

Whether it’s what you want or not, you’ve created this reality through your thoughts.  So the sooner you acknowledge and appreciate all the lessons which have led to the person you are today, the sooner you will lean into the high vibration of peaceful satisfaction. Only then can you freely desire without attachment, which as suggested by The Buddha, is the root of suffering.

As I often heard Deepak Chopra say, “Be open to everything and attached to nothing.”   Powerful wisdom to live by.

Another way of explaining attachment is from American poet, author, and teacher Stephen Levine, who said, “Non-attachment is not the elimination of desire. It is the spaciousness to allow any quality of mind, any thought or feeling, to arise without closing around it, without eliminating the pure witness of being. It is an active receptivity to life.”  

I love the way Levine put it. Making space for desire to illuminate without conditions or restrictions.  Just allowing.

Abraham-Hicks provides another way of looking at balancing appreciation and desire by saying, “You can be fully satisfied with where you are, understanding that you’re eternally evolving.  When you get into that place of feeling appreciation of where you are and of who you are, and appreciation of what you are, and you accept that you are a never-ending, always unfolding Being, then you can stand in that delicate balance of being optimistic about what is to come, without being unhappy about where you stand.”

Here’s a little mantra to help you stay in the high vibe of appreciation this week:

Love from your Joy Mama,

P.S.   How do you balance appreciating where you are now with your future desires? Drop a comment below.  Would be great to hear your thoughts.

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Image courtesy of Pixabay.