Reduce suffering, increase joy....

You know, the whole purpose and point of my work is just what that headline says. I’m human, just like the rest of you, and I find myself suffering sometimes, and needing to head back to my joy.

You’ve heard the old saying, “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” That’s so true.

My job, the one I’ve chose for this lifetime, is to learn how, and then teach others how to stop choosing suffering. Now, in order to stop choosing suffering, you’ve got to admit that you’re choosing it in the first place. And often, that’s the biggest hurdle to overcome.

You’d love to blame someone or something for your suffering, and then insist that they, or it needs to change for you to be able to stop suffering. That doesn’t usually work out so well, does it?

Taking 100% responsibility for your suffering is what I refer to as spiritual maturity. It’s kind of like when you grow up and take responsibility for your finances—you know, making money, spending money, paying bills, budgeting for vacation, etc. It takes some of us longer than others to stop sitting around waiting for the world to change and throw money at our feet. :) But when we finally do, then we are empowered to change things for ourselves, to our liking.

Same thing with emotional and spiritual suffering. When you finally get that you are the one choosing it, then you can begin to choose to let it go. At first you might only choose to let it go for a moment before you take it back. But once you begin that process, it’s pretty hard to go back to blaming everyone and everything else without conscious awareness. And once you're aware.....

Now for every moment, every nanosecond you choose to release suffering, you create an opening to experience the joy that always is in you. Always. And once you get that pattern going, that becomes so attractive, and it pulls you more and more toward the joy and away from the suffering.

My coaching business is named Everyday Joy because your joy is not extraordinary. It’s you. It’s who you are. It’s there waiting for you in every simple NOW moment of every minute of every hour of every day. It’s waiting for you in your car, on your walk, at your kitchen table, in the shower, in your back yard, on your couch, at your friend’s house, at the grocery store….you got the picture, right? Because it's IN YOU.

So, just for right, now take responsibility for reducing your suffering---no matter what it is about--- and increasing your joy….. just in this NOW moment.

And if you want my help with this, contact me and we’ll partner our energies to increase your Everyday Joy!

Wishing you all that you dream of,
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach