Joy and Appreciation

On our recent trip to Devon, walking in Dartmoor National Park

The values which underpin this blog are: Love, Health, Acceptance, Kindness, Appreciation, Gratitude, Joy, Trust in Life, Openness, Authenticity.

I have written posts about some of these values before.

In this post I’ll write about Joy and Appreciation.

To know these values better I am going to write about what sits opposite them; comparison. What is the antidote to comparison; appreciation. What does appreciation lead to? Joy.

Sometimes the mind can wander into comparison. I think we all do it. The funny thing is, whenever you do it, do you feel good? So why do we do it? Perhaps it’s just human nature.

Of course this happens for us. Kevin and I might see other two year olds walking, talking and scooting, and sometimes we think about our day-to-day life. So, what feelings is this comparison prompting? A wistfulness.

If I find myself comparing, I flip my mind to the opposite; appreciation. I focus on all we have that’s amazing, and unique to us and our life. My old lifecoach @sophia_davis_coach showed me that if I have such a structured rule foundation of how something must be, there’s no space for something different. “What if there’s something equally spectacular and wonderful?” she said. Coraline climbs on us and babbles, she looks with those beautiful eyes and she radiates contentment with her poise.

If I let go, I allow room for life to hand its goodness to us. My old lifecoach continued, “You have your own idea of what’s important but then trust what life brings you and leave space for it. So much more than you can conceive is available. You limit what’s possible by putting a ceiling on how things should be. Be open for the creative force of life to come in, leave space for that energy to offer you what it has”.

When you trust life and what it’s bringing you, you enter into appreciation and then you find joy.

I got to talking with my younger brother, “why do we compare? What’s the purpose of it?” And more to the point, “what is it we are after with this comparison? What is it we are hoping for in our life?” We established it comes down to joy. Being joyous in your life. That’s why we’re comparing, because we think that other person is really happy and doing so great. But then we just need to think, “Hang on, do we feel joyous? Oh yes! Does Coraline? Oh yes!” There’s no need to compare then, as there are different routes to joy, and different expressions of joy, and joy comes from us all appreciating and loving who we are, and being our unique selves with confidence and love. Aha!

Appreciation is to choose to be present, choose to go with the flow and to know that it is the biggest opportunity of your life if you shift into appreciation.

The other point, which my old lifecoach taught me, is that the mind is full of thinking and our heart knows the truth.