Dear Ones,
There is joy to be found in every moment of your time on Planet Earth if you will but search for the joy instead of dwelling on the painful aspects of that moment.
Are you in a place where you feel there is only pain? Then we would tell you to look outside the window into the wider world and find one thing to delight in. Is there a flower in bloom? Is there an animal or bird to watch? Is someone walking by and can you determine their story from their posture? If you cannot see out a window at the moment, then look around you and find one thing to be grateful for. Do you have all your fingers? Be grateful for that. Are you able to see or hear or taste? Be grateful for that. If there is a sense that does not work so well for you, then do not dwell on what you do not have but, rather, think about that which does work.
What joy has there been in your life in the last hour? Day? Month? Year? If you were to make a list of things big and small that have brought you delight there would be many things, from the simple meal that you enjoyed when you were so hungry to the smile on the face of the recipient of a gift you gave. It might be the good news from the doctor about a loved one’s health or the happiness you felt when an old friend got in touch with you. There is always something to focus on when you look for something that was a joy in your life, even if, at this moment, you can only think of small joys.
What we are wanting you to learn is that joy comes into every life but must be noticed before it can have an affect. If you spend your precious moments of Life focusing on what is lacking or what is painful or that which you wish were different you will miss the joy that is available at all times for you. If you find yourself always focused away from this present moment, either dwelling in the past or worrying about something that has not happened yet in the future, then, again, you will be missing the joy that is available in this present moment.
All you ever have, Dear Ones, is this present moment. What has happened in the past has been a stepping stone that you have used to arrive at the present moment. What will happen in the future will be shaped by the energy that you send out in this present moment. Dwell only on this moment. Ask yourself, ‘Where is the joy to be found in this moment?’ Even if you are in tears about something sad that has happened, bring your attention to something around you that has a positive effect on this moment. Even if you are sad or depressed or struggling with Life, bring your focus onto something that can make you think a life-affirming thought.
This is why so many people have pets in their lives. This is especially important for those who live alone, without other human companions in their homes. A person with a pet has a reason to arise every morning and has someone to greet them every time they return to their house. They must be concerned with having food in the house for the pet. They must return home to care for the pet. The moments watching the antics of a pet can be joyous!
Everyone needs to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. If you find yourself struggling to do that, then create a good reason. If you love to arise and face the day but find yourself feeling lonely in the evening, then create a way to find joy in those moments alone. If you are in a job or relationship with people who feel as if they are dragging you down, then do something about the situation. If you can’t change situations today, then spend your focus finding something, anything about which you can feel joy or delight.
It is up to you to find the joy in the present moment. Moments are fleeting. If you look away from the sunset you will miss the spectacular colors. If you are not looking at the bird feeder at the right moment you will miss the hummingbird. Take time to look around you for the reason to feel joy. We guarantee that it is there, even if it seems insignificant at first!
And so it is.
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Mystic Messages 
MUSE-INGS: Focus on the Joy!
April 27, 2010 — RosemaryHow easy it is to focus our attention on the things that need to be fixed or on the painful things that we wish were different! We can get so caught up in wishing something would change that we forget how powerful we are to change how we think about a situation.
My wonderful Mom, Gloria Robertson, always saw silver linings. One of her favorite sayings was, ‘Everything always works out for the best.’ And the other thing she said often was,
‘As a rule, Man’s a fool,
When it’s hot he wants it cool.
When it’s cool he wants it hot,
Always wishing what is not.’
My Mom was a very wise woman. We spend so much time wishing things were different when really the only thing we need to change is how we think about things. I remember my Mom, towards the end of her life, deciding that she would only worry about those things that it was in her power to make different. She had an appointment with her doctor who asked her what had changed because her health had improved. She said, ‘I’ve adopted a new attitude – NMP.’ When he asked what ‘NMP’ stood for, she answered, ‘Not My Problem.’
It is very freeing to look around and decide what is ours to work on and what is beyond our control or what belongs to someone else to handle. And it is very empowering to take charge of those things that ARE our own to deal with. Not everything around us requires that we take charge of it. Not everything is ours to handle or to fix. Sometimes another person needs to learn to help himself or herself. Sometimes someone else needs to learn a lesson by handling something their own way. Sometimes ‘good enough’ is okay – it doesn’t always have to be perfect. Sometimes another person just wants to be left alone and it needs to be okay with us to allow that. And sometimes another person needs company and we need to be beyond ourselves enough to see that and to offer the company without judgment.
Look around you today and see if there isn’t some joy to be found in every conscious moment. What can you do to make yourself smile? Is there someone you can help? Is there some situation that you can laugh at? Can you laugh at yourself or do you always take yourself terribly seriously? Is there an animal to watch? A flower to notice? Music to enjoy? What can you feel gratitude about in this moment now?
Adopting the attitude that there is always some joy to be found will bring happiness into your life. And if you are truly struggling to find something about which to feel good, then get out your sense of humor and remember a time when you laughed and laughed at something you thought was hilariously funny. All you need to do is remember and you will be smiling again.
Keep a stock of funny movies or joke books or funny emails that you’ve received and get them out when you truly cannot find anything to give you joy. One joke, one laugh, is all it takes to shift your energy. One look out the window and you will find something to delight in, no matter how small it might seem. Remember, that if you spend all of your energy thinking about what you don’t want, the Universe won’t know what to bring you from the list of what you DO want. Energize the aspects of this moment that you want to magnify in your life. Experience delight and you will have more delight. Focus on joy and you will have more joy in your life. That’s how things work!
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Please feel free to re-post this article and share it with your readers. All I ask is that you include the following information when you do: