How does joy feel?

If your heart is damaged or you feel stuck and frustrated and worried, you may not be as aware of good experiences in your life. Unhappy experiences and the resulting feelings are heavy and dense and can take over our life if we don't keep them in check. 

Or your life may be filled with work and obligations. Your mind is filled with thoughts of everything you need to do and you don't even consider relaxing.

I recommend learning to pay attention to all the feelings you have that are good. Look for them because they may be subtle. 

If you're lucky to have a supportive group of family and friends, then you'll need to communicate with them. Even those close to us, however empathic and intuitive, still need to hear what's troubling us. And we need to express our feelings.

There are other connections that take place in our life. It may be a very brief encounter with a friendly stranger (or their pet), being outdoors, watching films or listening to music. Maybe you read or witness something that touches your heart. If you're not recognizing these events, try to pay more attention. Give them the importance they deserve, that you deserve.

Notice your feelings in all these instances. Describe them. Do you feel warmth, openness, lightness? Do you feel like crying? 

When we're aware of these small events and how we're affected, we build up our supply of joy. And this helps us to gain balance with the negativity in our life. It may even surpass the negativity in our life if we can shift our overall perspective.

If it helps you, write down these experiences so you remember them - the experiences and your feelings. There may be more of them than you realize.