The Meaning of Joy & 3 Ways to Feel More Joy

I recently experimented by taking all the issues my clients had over the years and wanted help with. The highest-rated issue was wanting to experience more joy in their lives.

We’re all meant to be experiencing joy. The secret longings and drives in our hearts are there for a reason. They align us with our purpose and our destiny. We will feel joy when we are living our true purpose.

That Small Still Voice

Take time to be still, drop your attention out of your head and down into your body, notice any tension as you scan your body, and let that tension fall out of your body onto the floor. Slow your breath as you do this. Perhaps put on some meditative, calming music that helps you relax, light a candle, feel comfortable in your chair, and take your attention inside. Try to listen to that small, still voice within you. 

Sometimes God or our higher power speaks to us in dreams, during the day in the natural world, or in prompting us to call someone, read a certain book, or watch a particular movie. God is working in our lives all the time, in both the spiritual and natural realms. So keep your eyes and ears attuned to all the messages you’re receiving. If they are positive, they are from God; if they are negative or derogatory, they might come from your own limiting beliefs or the negative words you sometimes say to yourself.

Joy is something we can all experience, and we can be living a divinely inspired freedom. 

The Meaning of Joy

A feeling of great pleasure and happiness. Often described as "tears of joy”. It can look like delight, great pleasure, joyfulness, jubilation, triumph, exultation, rejoicing, happiness, gladness, glee, exhilaration, exuberance, elation, euphoria, bliss, ecstasy, rapture.

Here’s the antonym: misery

I think we would all like to be feeling joy rather than misery. Sadly, many are living lives frustrated by their inability to feel joy. We were created to feel joy, though some of us have never known what it feels like. If you’ve never felt joy, it may mean that you need more healing to take place before you can even access the positive aspects of who you are. There might be parts of you crying out to be seen, heard, witnessed, and acknowledged for the pain you endured.

Core Beliefs

For some, childhood was so filled with fear and disappointment that it was never safe to let go and feel joy. Letting your guard down meant opening yourself up to emotional or even physical harm. You may have inherited ancestral anxiety and fear — passed down through generations, perhaps even absorbed in the womb — along with limiting beliefs that shaped your early sense of self.

I get it. I really do. I lived it.

I found joy in dance, in performing — a spark that was repeatedly crushed, though never fully extinguished, thank goodness, because it was so deeply woven into who I am.

Now that I’m no longer dancing, I’ve found that same joy in the work I do today — helping others heal, break free, and rediscover their own joy.

Healing is possible. Joy is possible. Even after trauma, even after years of pain, it’s never too late to hope. That longing — that deep need — when met with courage and action, can lead you to the healing you seek.

You can break free. And in that freedom, you can learn to feel joy again.

Are We Always Going to be Feeling Joy?

There are times in life when we face challenges — when we’re in a season of growth, or feel stuck, or simply worn down.
We lose our jobs. Money stops coming in. We care for sick loved ones. We live with physical pain. Someone we love dies — or leaves.
Disappointment follows disappointment.
The list can feel endless.
And in those moments, we wonder: Where is God in all of this?

And yet — even in the midst of difficulty — joy is still possible.

I don’t mean only the “kick up your heels and sing in the rain” kind of joy (though that’s wonderful when it comes).
I mean a quieter, deeper joy:
A sense of inner peace.
An inner knowing that, even in the storm, this won’t last forever.
That things will get better.
That you are not alone.
That God is with you — believing in you, loving you, holding you — even now.

Joy isn’t the absence of pain.
It’s the presence of hope, even in the dark.

Law of Gratitude

1. Ask Yourself Questions…

Take out your journal and think of a time when you felt some feelings of joy. Make a list and expound on the experience in your journal. (If you can’t think of anything, then I want you to imagine how it would feel if you were in a joyful experience.)

What were you doing?

Who were you with?

What about it this event brought you joy?

Who were you when you were doing these things?

How did this experience feel in your body?

Where were these feelings in your body? Describe them (such as warm, exciting, tingly, peaceful, in the zone, confident, and thrilling. The color blue, yellow, etc….

If you could give a metaphor description of who you were at this time, what would it be? (examples could be perhaps an animal, color, a specific character or person, or more "me" etc…)

How would you feel if you could do more of this?

How could those feelings inspire you in your life now? 

2. Trust Your Heart and Your Body

How do you share it with others safely?

How could you be doing more of this in your work, free time, and family time?

Make a vision board where you can either draw, paint, cut out pictures, and paste them of all those things that bring you joy.

Put it up on the wall and look at it every day. Let it inspire you to create more.

Be aware of the feelings doing this evokes in you, either negative or positive.

If all you feel is anxiety or negative feelings do EFT-Tapping to tap those negative feelings down to a zero. If they are overwhelming, I encourage you to see a practitioner whom you feel comfortable with, who can help you discover what may be causing the overwhelm and heal it.

Journal about it and delve into how those feelings can be used for further discovery, either about you or about others.

3. Never Give Up Seeking

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to, “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you”. So do all of those things (ask, seek, and knock) and never give up until you find what brings you joy. Keep trying new things and drop them if you don’t enjoy them and keep them and expand them if they do bring you joy.

If you are interested in discovering more of your joy, living the life you dreamed of, and letting go of anything that may be keeping you blocked from experiencing joy, click here to book a 20-minute complimentary consult. You deserve to be free and you deserve to experience joy.

Love,