Twelve quick ideas for finding hope and joy in turbulent times
My British family was hoping I would share this photo of yoga in Cornwall.
This blog is available in five different languages. To select your preferred language, simply click on the yellow button located in the lower right-hand corner of your screen.
Supporting our resilience with the joyful dozen
Many of us are experiencing fear, worry, and sadness in a time of rapid and unpredictable change. We worry about what could happen next, not only to ourselves and loved ones, but also to other people in our communities and beyond, and to the planet.
Some doomscroll the news, worried about missing something while looking away. Some aren’t going out much anymore. Some find themselves crying more often.
Talking about joy amid such suffering may be jarring, but joy and hope can be our rock, providing the strength and resiliency we need to do more and to sustain all we are doing. Joy and hope can help us survive.
So how do we find it? Here are a dozen ideas—highlighting the pillar of joy connected to each. You do not have to do them all; find what works for you and stick with it.
The joyful dozen
--
1) Mindfulness: Give yourself permission to feel what you are feeling.
Ask yourself which feelings are serving you. When a feeling doesn’t serve you, be present, thank that feeling for trying to protect you, and kindly tell the feeling you do not need it. Invite the feeling to leave when ready. Accept it until then.
--
2) Purpose: Ask for help.
Our Social Centers motto is “When all give, all gain.” Give others a chance to give and live into their purpose. I will lead by example. Could you help us by supporting our resiliency fund? And/or could you share this post to help our newsletter help more people?
--
3) Mindfulness: Find your mantra for this moment.
Write it down or find something that represents it. Carry it with you to ground you. Some possibilities:
A) “In this moment, everything is OK,”
C) “I am doing what I can to make things better,” or
D) “F@#$”—on repeat (Swearing can reduce pain and promote joy).
--
4) Fitness: Go for a run.
Even if you have been told you run like a penguin (Never happened to me—but just in case.). Even if it’s true. Run. Repeat. Regularly.
Definitely not a penguin. At ZUMIX Run to the Beat.
--
5) Fun: Give yourself permission to have fun without guilt.
Moments of enjoyment can relieve stress and sustain us for the long journey.
--
6) Relationships: Schedule regular in-person fun with people you love.
Ideally, with fun people you love. Fun people make fun more fun.
My lovely with Vanessa with her cousin Marlee.
--
7) Mindfulness: Bring positive topics into conversation. (only after and with #1)
Over time, we become our thoughts and words. Don’t force it but invite yourself to find the positive. Good weather today, or yesterday or tomorrow. A child’s smile. Delicious cheese (see #8). That we still live in a safer time with better health care, longer life expectancy, and easier day-to-day living than almost any other time in history.
--
8) Fun: Cheese. Savor it.
Putting cheese in the fun category might make you think I am a very boring person. “No,” you say. “I already knew you were a very boring person.” Still—enjoy cheese, or your favorite vegan alternative.
Cheese can be fun. Image generated by Microsoft CoPilot.
--
9) Fitness and Mindfulness: Take a yoga class.
I often do an at-home yoga video which I love, and which is 100% better than not doing yoga. However, if you happen to have penguin-like form, unsupervised yoga may increase injury risk. Also, in-person classes can foster connection: a joy bonus.
--
10) Relationships: Make a phone call every day.
Tell someone you care. Ideally, this daily phone call should be to a loved one, not a telemarketer. But then again, I bet the telemarketer would love to know you care too.
--
11) Purpose: Make your meaningful difference.
No one can do it all, but we all can do something—and together, we can make real change. Find your place for action where your skills, time, financial resources, relationships, influence, and passion intersect.
--
12) Fun: Laugh.
Share your favorite comedy skits. Laugh at the absurdity of the moment. Share memes. But please, don’t make fun of a child who runs like a penguin. Otherwise, they might write about it years later. They will pretend to be over it, but they won’t be.
Please share your ideas in comments and contribute to this conversation. We are stronger, and more joyful, together.
Stay joyful, Eastie.
Please share, subscribe, and join our movement by emailing me or supporting East Boston Social Centers . Look out each week for our posts about boosting joy the only way we can: in community.
