6 Easy Ways To Experience More Joy

Make sure you’re getting enough downtime.


How can I experience more joy? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

Sometimes it might seem like we are not experiencing enough joy in our lives. The truth is that we are in the driver’s seat when it comes to grabbing our personal share. Here are a few tips for adding more joy to your life:

1. Make sure you’re getting enough downtime. If you are overscheduled, you simply don’t have enough time to incorporate activities that bring you joy. Ensure that you are maintaining a proper balance in your life (work and otherwise) so that you can pencil them in.

2. Find your inner child. He or she is in there somewhere. Remember what tickled you as a kid or had you grinning your widest. Reconnect with that younger version of yourself and do something childish that makes you ooze with joy.

3. Get outdoors. There is nothing like a good, healthy dose of fresh air to improve your mood and bring you joy. Get out there and go for a hike, take a spin on the boat, or do something that involves soaking in that refreshing vitamin D.

4. Perform random acts of kindness. When you do something nice for someone without claiming responsibility, it is such a joyous little secret and will boost your happiness levels tremendously. Try it by embarking on a mission to become the stealthiest, secret samaritan around.

5. Do something out of your comfort zone. When you take a risk, you reap the reward. Try an activity that you have always wanted to (but might have been afraid of) and embrace the joy that comes to you when you actually pull it off.

6. Say yes more often than you say no. It’s often our first instinct to say no. Retrain your brain to say yes to activities that you think you might not enjoy. Chances are that you will uncover a lot of joy in those moments.

This question originally appeared on Quora.

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