Vicki Kallman’s Blog

What you think about is what you bring about. Or you think to create. Your thoughts create your world. These are very empowering statements. You might say what do you mean by these statements? What I mean is this- When you think about joy you bring about joy. When you think joy - you create joy. And lastly, your joyful thoughts create your joyful world! And on the darkside of all of this is- When you think about worry you create things to worry about! When you think gloom and doom - you create gloom and doom.Your fearful thoughts create a fearful world.

Who wants to create worry,gloom, and doom, and fear in their lives? I don’t - I would definitely would rather create JOY.

I have just described to you the principles of the universal “Law of Attraction”. The definition of the Law of Attraction is “I attract to my life whatever I give my energy, focus, and attention to, whether wanted or unwanted.” Thoughts and feelings are energy. I believe we are an energetic body as well as a physical body. As our physical body responds favorably to good food, good water, exercise and proper sleep. Our energetic body responds favorably to good or positive thoughts and feelings. You know when you consume fatty fast food and you stop exercising and you are sleep deprived. You start to feel bad so you go to the doctors. There they will give you tests and the tests results will probably tell you that your cholesterol and blood pressure is sky high along with a few other negative conditions - this is how your body has responded to your neglect. Now if you think or speak negative thoughts or words about yourself or others- you will have created a negative energetic environment- that will produce the opposite of what you really wanted. Someone once said to me “if you put junk in -you get junk out.” That goes for your body as well as your thoughts. Are you getting the jest of what I am saying?

When I first started to understand this universal law of attraction, I decided to really test it. I was not completely convinced that my thoughts created my world. It was spring 1999. I took a once in a lifetime week long trip to London, England with my darling mother-in-law and my husband’s two older sisters. It was a “Girl’s Trip to London”. I was so excited to go. I wanted it to be a wonderful experience. Who knows when I would get back there?

To test out this law of attraction thing- I did this- I said to myself that I was going to love everything about London even the weather in March. Before the trip, I was in constant contact with my two well meaning sister-in-laws and mother-in-law so as to plan this wonderful trip. Instead of thinking how wonderful it all was going to be- my two sisters-in-law were full of worry about the weather, the food, the jet lag, and getting sick while they were there. They seemed to be looking for thinks to go wrong. After everyone of our telephone calls- I would say to myself exactly what I wanted to happen for me while I was there. First - I kept saying- The weather will not stop me from having a wonderful time. England was not famous for great food, however I repeated to myself what ever I eat it will delicious and I will love it. As for the jetlag, I affirmed that “I will have plenty of sleep while I am in London and feel refreshed every morning”. And finally I told myself that I would have radiant health throughout my trip.

The day of the trip I met the other three at Denver International Airport and we were on our way. Once we boarded the flight and got settled, my husband’s two sisters started talking up their fears again- thank God they were sitting in the seats in front of me - so I could tune them out. Half way through the flight they ask me if I needed a sleeping pill to catch a few zzz’s on the flight. They informed me that they had brought enough for us all to take throughout the stay in order to get enough sleep. I said maybe later but I was fine now. There was a few seats open around me so I laid down and got an hour or so of sleep. So far so good. My two sisters in law- still did not sleep a wink even with the sleeping pills hmmm….

Once we arrived at the hotel and got settled, we took a cab to a local pub to get a bite to eat. I was so excited to be in a real English pub. I ordered the soup of the day and salad. They ordered a couple of sandwiches. My soup was fantastic as well as my salad. They complained about the sandwich and only ate half of it. My mother-in-law in the mean time enjoyed what she ordered. No complaints there.

That night when it was time to go to bed. My sister-in-laws again took some sleeping pills and I declined. I hopped into bed and went fast to sleep and did not wake up until 6am-completely refreshed. You guessed it- the sisters did not have a good night sleep. My mother-in-law had a good night sleep. I started to think that my intelligent mother-in-law understood the law of attraction and had planned on having a fearless and joyful time, too.

As you can imagine throughout the week, my meals were amazing- theirs were not, I had no trouble sleeping- they continued to struggle with it. The weather did not stop me from enjoying my trip.

One night we went to the musical, “Chicago” at wonderful old theater. I had a blast watching this amazing live performance of that muscial. Afterwards, I was feeling so good. When we were walking to the “Tube”, the sisters started complaining about the muscial- I thought to myself- “had they seen the same show that I had.” Now my sister-in-laws are really wonderful gals- I really love them both. However, they really did not understand the “law of Attraction” A couple of times that week, I tried to help them shift their thoughts- so they could enjoy the trip as much as I did. I wasn’t too successful with that attempt. Their thoughts were ruining the trip for them and my thoughts were creating an amazing time for me.

Four days into the trip, the sister I was bunking with started to get sick with a dreadful bronchial and strepthroat type flu. She was in bed with a high fever. And the day after that, the other sister who was sharing a room with their mother came down with the same flu. They even had to do to a local doctor to get antibiotics.

My mother in law and myself never got that flu. When we arrived back to Denver, my two sister-in-laws were so sick, I had to drive them home.

To this day whenever we get together and talk about our trip to London- they shared what a lousy time they had- the food was trouble and the weather made them so sick. In fact, they were sick for two weeks after they got home. My mother-in-law and I would always look at each other and say we loved and would do it again.

You might feel that I have exaggerated this story- every bit of it is true. Since then everytime I intentionally use the law of attraction to have a wonderful time on a vacation- my vacation is perfect. If I let some fear in or doubt- I do not have a good time. From my own experiences, I have come to the conclusion that one can attract a joyful vacation just as easy as a lousy one.

I once heard this statement- “Fuzzy in gives you fuzzy out- clarity in gives you clarity out.” So lets get clear on what kind of vacation you want.

Here are a few tips to great a joyful vacaton this summer.

1. Do this exercise that comes out of Michael Losier’s book “The law of Attraction”.

On a sheet of paper draw a line down the paper to make two columns. Label the first column- what you do not want to happen on your vacation- the contrast(like my sisters in law’s fears) and then on the other side across from each fear what you want to experience instead of that fear your clarity( my thoughts for example) Once you have done that - tear away the contrasting portion and give your attention and focus to your ideal trip.

2. Keep saying yourself that your will have a joy-filled wonderful vacation no matter what.

3. Another affirmation type statement you might want to add is - I work hard all year and I deserve to have a wonderful time.

4. Visualize a joyful trip from the beginning to end and then allow it to happen. Set back and reap the benefits of your good thoughts.

I hope this helps you create an amazing vacation this summer and every vacation in the future.

Let me know if you try this out and the results!! Bon Voyage!!!

Just recently a friend of mine with little children asked me what I did to keep my children occupied on car trips. I let her in on a secret I use to use. Since we were in the military and seemed to live in cars, either traveling to our next home, visiting grandparents out of state, or family vacations, for survival I had to come up with a great distraction for my three kids. I do not know when I came up with this idea that worked 100% of the time with my three kids. I believe I came by this when my kids were in elementary school.

What I discovered was when ever we went somewhere my children always wanted us to buy them something- like at Disneyland, a Travel stop, just anywhere. So what I decided to do was have my children earn their spending money.

This is how I did it. I promised each one of my children $20 at the end of the trip to do as they pleased- but they had to earn by behaving. Every time I had to discipline the child or raise my voice they lost a quarter. I had them all agree with the rules and ask questions - so they were clear. Then the game began. Let me tell by the time they lost 50 cents there would be no more problems- peace and quiet. They became responsible for their own behavior. They found things to occupy their time that did not included fighting with each other. They learned patience. Once the money was gone it was gone. They did not get a chance to earn it back. That might sound harsh- but they learned that there were consequences to their actions. If they whined about losing a quarter- they lost another. Hence the arguing ceased! It was like magic.

I would do the same thing on the return trip. It was worth every penny I spent. Children always want you to buy them something- so this way they had some money of their own to buy what they want. I did notice that they took a great amount of time to buy just the right item or items. I feel they learned a lot about earning money and spending on those trips. A great life lesson.

If you have children that are too young to understand money, have every child start out with a bag of their favorite candy that they will get at the end of the trip. Put their name on the bag. Explain that they have to earn it. Every time they misbehave they have to take a piece of their candy out bag and put it in their parent’s candy bag. Again they will learn responsibility and consequences. If you do not want to use candy- find another item that will work.

Because of this secret, we got to experience the joy of taking a family trip. A lot less stress and a lot more joy.

Let me know if you use this secret this summer and let me know if you got to experience more joy traveling with your family this summer!

Happy Traveling,
Vicki

I am back from a wonderful vacation in Misawa, Japan. I was there visiting my son and his family. I welcomed my new grand daughter, Aubrey Ann, into this world. It is amazing what joy one can have by holding a new baby. I kept repeating to myself, “What a gift!”

We all start our whole, perfect, and complete just like my little Aubrey. I believe the reason babies look angelic is because they know they are whole, perfect, and complete and no one has told them anything else. They also understanding they are part of a whole and not separate. As I held her I could feel the joy that she is and she brought out the joy in me. Life is really a miracle!

I believe when a child is born we all hold hope and love for this wonderous being. As I watched Aubrey sleep, I could really sense her perfection. I said to myself - she is going to grow up and want approval from her love ones like everyone else. She is going to teach her parents that - “She is going to do what she is going to do and she won’t do what she won’t do!” She will also teach her parents and love ones to - “Mind their own Business”. And just love her. She will have heartaches and become stronger because of them. She will discover that this world can sometimes be a scary place but with the support of her love ones- she can let go of the fear and be all she can be! She will want to control her world but then realize that she only controls her response to her world. Right now Aubrey knows she is limitless- my prayer for her is that she always remembers that.

As I held my little angel- I remembered at one time I was someone’s little angel- whole, perfect, and complete. Tears ran down my face because I had forgotten that I was that little perfect soul. It took be 52 years to really remember that I am a gift to this world and to connect to that place.

Thank you Aubrey- Grandma is still learning.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!!

Yes, you are just a decision away from experiencing joy in your life right now! Imagine, if a genie showed up at your doorstep and he was there to grant you one joy-filled wish. What would you wish for? Would it be to work more hours, to have no money in your bank account, to have no love ones around you or to be busier than you are today? I have a feeling that you would not be wishing for any of these things. Instead, I believe most of us would be wishing for an amazing, loving, caring relationship with a love one, a career that gave them great joy and satisfaction that also created an abundant income or more time to enjoy what wonderful things you have. Maybe a few of you would wish to have better health or wish for someone else to have better health. Do you have that joy-filled wish in your mind right now? OK next, do you have it in your life today? Why not? Maybe you have not yet decided to have it. When was the last time you woke up in the morning and thought of that wonderful, joyous wish that you wanted the Genie to grant you. When have you put it on the top of the list of things to do? Yes, all of this Joy is just a decision away.

Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, said,” If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” If you do not decide to have joy in your life, you might not like where you end up.

I believe what we think about is what we bring about. Everything you see around you was once a thought and then it was created. If you want to know what you think about, look around you and see what you have created. If you have loving relationships, you enjoy your career, you have a nice home, and etc, what do you think about? I would say you think of joyful things. Your mind is not cluttered with what you do not want. Some where along the way you decided to have joy in your life. Let’s do the flip side of all this. You are on your fourth spouse, your children never come home to visit and you live in a home that is full of chaos. Do you get the picture? Some where along the way you chose to think about what you did not want. You are not a bad person for your thoughts. You just did not know the power of your thoughts. Thoughts have negative and positive energy and are very powerful.

I recently met a sixty something lady at a Starbucks while I was having a coaching meeting with a friend. She over heard our conversation about joy being a decision away. She said excuse me. I have to agree with you. She proceeded to share her story. She said that she was in an abusive marriage with a man with many addictions. and of course quite miserable. She had study art before her marriage but it went on the back burner when she married. After a long, unhappy marriage, she knew he would not change and she chose to be happy and left the marriage. She is now painting pictures of her journey to her peace of mind. Being an artist gives her such joy. It took this woman many years to decide to have joy back in her life, but she did it by making a choice to have it. So you see it was just a decision away! She thought of what had given her joy in the past and decided to change her thoughts and created her joy. Remember what you think about is what you bring about!

You might wonder, how can I change this destructive pattern of thoughts? Being aware of your thoughts is the first step. The second step is to be courageous enough to change your thoughts. We change our thoughts by thinking about what we want. “What do you want?” Sometimes we have to play games with ourselves to help us think positive, joyous thoughts. One of the games I like to play is the “Wouldn’t it be nice if this desire would come true.” Game. I learned this game from the book, “Ask and it is Given” Book by Jerry and Esther Hicks. The game goes like this. If you wish to have better health, you say to yourself “Wouldn’t it be nice if I felt great today.” Instead of “I do not want to feel bad”. Feel the difference in those statements. If you wish to have a good day at work, you state, “Wouldn’t be nice if I had an amazing, fun day a work today” Doesn’t it sound like an empowering way to change your thoughts? Instead of, I hope the boss doesn’t give me alot of work to do today because I am already behind and I will never catch up. Are you thinking about what you don’t want? By thinking that, you are deciding to have that negative experience at work! And I am sure you will get what you are thinking about. Personally, I feel like I am in the flow when I play the Wouldn’t it be nice if …. game and anything is possible. I am empowered by deciding to have a great day, better health, and more joy in my life because I am putting those amazing thoughts in my mind. When I play this game, I have had some amazing things appear in my life because I know what I want and I have decided to have it. Try it - what do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? Remember what you think about is what you bring about.

Today, do you know where you are going? Have you chosen the road filled with joy? Or are you wondering aimlessly to where you do not want to be? I challenge you today to decide to be joyous. Be aware of your thoughts. Choose to change them if you want a different life. Who knows maybe you will not need a Genie to give you that wish. It might seem like magic, however joy is really only a decision away.

Last night I experienced a big disappointment. This disappointment put my world into a tailspin. At that moment, I wanted to quit and never try again. From this experience, I became keenly aware that my Joy was so fragile. When I was in that feeling place of disappointment, my world seemed so very dark. It is amazing that it could get so dark so quickly and the energy of that place could be so, so heavy. It seemed to bring all my insecurities and programs about my limiting beliefs forward for me to observe. Ouch- that hurt!

At first I did not want to look at these beliefs but a part of me knew that I would eventually have to do so. I felt resistant to seeing what was really there until this morning. I was definitely the furthest place from joy in those long, dark hours. It seemed as though all the tools I knew to help me move back to my joy were a thousand miles away and locked in a safe, which I did not want to know the combination.

After being in that dark world all night, I woke this morning and realized that it was time to acknowledge those limited beliefs that were brought to the surface with this experience. I needed to see the lessons in it all, too. As my morning progressed, one by one I started using the tools I knew that would allow me to get closer to my joy.

Let me share my process with you in hopes that this will help you some day, when you experience your next disappointment. (You and I know there will be more. That’s the game of life!)

First, I sat still and felt the feelings I was having about the situation. I allowed myself to feel crappy. Once I had done that for a few moments, I decided to let go of that dark emotional energy. First, I asked myself several questions using the “Sedona Method”, an emotional releasing technique. (www.sedona.com) I taught this technique for several years. This is the process. I allowed myself to feel what I was feeling. Then I asked myself three simple questions and answered them with the “yes” or “no” with no maybe discussion with myself.
Here are the three questions:
Could I let this feeling go?
Would I let this feeling go?
And when?
After I had answered the questions with “yes”, “yes” and “now”.
I got quiet again and felt the next feeling arise in my awareness. I allowed it and then asked those questions again until the feelings I was experiencing became lighter. I was finally discovering I could respond differently to this disappointment. This also empowered me to go to the next step.

Next I emailed a life coach friend, Janice Marie, and who knew my situation. As I wrote that email I started to realize the lessons that were there in that disappointment. By realizing the lessons, I felt my power returning. Once I had become aware of my lessons, I felt that my journey to joy was no longer miles away and I knew how to get the combination to that safe. Hey, that was better than the night before. Finally, that dark stuff was dissipating. My world became brighter and I could see what I needed to do. My friend wrote back and shared a few other positive insights with me that also helped me shine brighter.

Even though I was feeling much better, I still needed to use another tool to really let it go because I still felt I just needed a couple of more combination numbers to unlock my joy. So the third tool I used was the “gratitude walk” in the park with my pup, Chai. It was an amazingly beautiful day today. As I walked, I gave thanks for everything that was going well with my life. By the end of the walk , I was able to give thanks for my disappointment because of the lessons I had discovered from observing it and letting it go. Wow! What a gift I had given to myself by looking my disappointment right in the eyes. My heart felt full, again.

In the past after a disappointment when I was not aware of any of these wonderful techniques, I would go to a place of victim and pout. And I would also quit and I was not open to find the lesson in any disappointment. I just ran from my disappointments. By responding to my situations as a victim, I gave my power away. It has taken me years to get regain my power. I believe last night a part of me wanted to play the old game and the empowered part of me said, “Grow up – you know more now.” Yep, I do know more now. I can no longer use the victim excuse and revert to the old way. That was not an option.

The final tool I used to unlock my joy was to write about this dark, joyless experience. I have written in journals in the past to help me with this step. However, today I decide to web log my experience, in hopes that my personal disappointment experience could support others to respond to their disappointments in an empowering way instead of a victim. I love to teach and share in this blog. Blogging was just what the doctor ordered to heal my wounds of disappointment and be in my joy again.
Lets recap my steps to my joy:
1) I felt what I was feeling, so I could observe my limiting beliefs.
2) The “Sedona Method” to release the emotional energy so I could find a different way to respond to this disappointment.
3) I emailed a friend and found the lessons in the disappointment that empowered me.
4) I took a “gratitude walk” to fill up again.
5) Because it gives my great joy to teach, I shared my thoughts by journaling in this blog.

Long time ago at my first self-help seminar, the instructor kept repeating, “First, you must become aware before you can change.” This process I shared with you is what supported my awareness and then I chose to change, so I could get back to my joyful life.

In a nutshell, I chose to let go and see the “brighter-side” of disappointment and my joy returned.

If you have any questions about this process, feel free to email me at Vicki@vickikallman.com .

I hope to help you answer the question, “Can I be happy about “the Change”?” I started going through the change in my early 4o’s. Those symptoms were not fun by any means. You know the weight gain, irratitablity, disturbed sleep and of course the “crazy” periods and cycles. I am now 52 and I believe this is going to be my last year of the perimenopause symptoms because my cycles are far in between.

A few years ago a friend gave me the book, “The Wisdom of Menopause, Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing during the Change”, by Christiane Northrup, MD. She also wrote the bestseller, “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom”. Dr. Northrup is a certified OB/Gyn that has gone through the “Change”. Let me tell you I learned so much from this book. Here are a few things I learned. How menopause literally rewires the brain, triggering a shift of priorities from nesting and caretaking to personal growth and equality. Also how the female body adjusts naturally to changing hormones, and how to make personalized decisions about HRT and alternative supplement (bioidentical hormones) and of course how to rebalance your metabolism shifts and prevent that middle age spread. Those are just a few great bits of information I walked away with from reading this book.

It was great tool to educate my husband about menopause. He has been more supportive of what I have to deal with. It also opened up a dialogue for us to discuss my symptoms and for him to realize that my mood swings and all were not about him. He learned that sometimes I just need my space and he gives it to me. The best part about that is - he does not have to fix me but just support me. He loves that.

I have had my physical and emotion health issues during this time but the most exciting thing that has evolved from this experience of menopause is my personal growth. My children are all grown and I work out of my home. I have time to grow. I have with the help of girl friends, personal growth seminars, books, and workshops- become more empowered, more confident, and more vulnerable which has made this time of my life the hardest yet the most rewarding for me personally. Amazing how that all works. I guess my brain has been busy with being rewired to find and empower ME!

Can you be happy about “the change”? Well, it is really up to you. Suffering is optional. Do your homework about this time of your life (get and read the book)- see what out there will work for you and do not be afraid to grow personally. What can you gain by knowing and being a wise, wonderful women? Happiness and joy!

Recently, I have had conversations with my good friends about my new website and my concept of joy. They have listened to my ideas and thoughts on the subject. They have agreed that joy was a soulful emotion and they loved feeling joyful. They, also, shared with me that they needed joy in their lives. It was missing from their current situations. It was as though they had not thought of it before. Why hadn’t they noticed that joy was the last emotion they were feeling in a day? I proceeded to ask them, what was going on in their lives? They all answered– “Stress”. Of course, many of these conversations happened around the joyful holiday of Christmas. Yes, that joyful time of the year can be stressful. HA! Anyway, they really did not mention the holidays as the problem. Several of them discussed their jobs and lack of security. Many of them, also, mentioned relationship and money issues. And of course their health problems were up there on the list- like backaches, stomach problems, weight issues, hormonal imbalances and etc. I then asked them this question- did they know how to feel joyful? What do you think the answer was? If you guessed – no, you were wrong. The answer was yes. I asked them why they had chosen stress over joy? They did not have an answer. We humans are such strange creatures. We have chosen to be full of stress and worry instead of happiness and joy. Of course, now that I had brought to their attention what road they were going down, they now have the awareness to choose a different path. Choice is a joyful thing!
Why is stress a joy buster? I believe stress is a joy buster because we are caught up in doings and we are playing the “human doing game”-and we have forgotten that we are human beings. What I mean by that is- when we are in the doing place – we are in our heads totally disconnected from our hearts. From that head place – we can only feel low energy feelings like fear, lust, and anger. These emotions come from believing that we can “do” our way to happiness. It all happens outside our selves. We feel we are controlling our world. Of course, the results were not always what we wanted (stress)- so we continue to try to control and then the next thing you know we are in a worse place then we were in before we started. It becomes a vicious cycle of crazy energy and thoughts. We continue trying to think our way to a resolution. If we continually stay in our heads- we miss out on the solution! Have you ever tried and tried to find your car keys in your house? You looked for hours and still no keys. As soon as you say, forget it and you get the spare car keys, your mind quiets and then suddenly out of nowhere you remember were you left your keys. You were “doing” nothing when you remembered and found the keys. Did you feel like it was magic and weren’t you joyful? When we work in conjunction with our hearts we can become less stressed and more joyful. It takes shifting to that quiet, heart place to feel the joy. Just let go of wanting to think! Try it sometime. Just say – “Can I let go of wanting to think?” Let me know your results.
Did you know that for most people it is only 16 inches from your forehead to your heart? That is such a short distance to joy. I believe we all know how to find joy. We just have to be reminded that it is a short trip. So put joy on the top of your list and step out of your stress-filled mind – take that trip! Enjoy!

Isn’t it amazing that we have to find Joy? Where did your joy go? Did it get lost? How can you lose joy? Sometimes I wonder is joy really so elusive or is it that we have become so wrapped up in doing and having in our lives that being joyful gets lost in the shuffle? Do we feel we do not have enough time to be joyful in a day? Is it our last priority of the day? In this modern times of cell phones, faxes, the internet, emails and instant and quick gratification, have we lost the ability to hold still be grateful for what we have and be in that place of gratitude that will lead to joy? Remember joy is a feeling- when was the last time you allowed yourself to feel anything but stress and negative emotions? Maybe that is the root of this problem.

A wise man once pronounced-”Stop and smell the roses.” Maybe he was giving us direction to joy and happiness. When was the last time you stopped and smelled your roses? When was the last time- you sat on a park bench and watched children laughing and playing in a field? When was the last time you sat at the dinner table with your family and laughed without rushing through dinner ? When was the last time you dared to dream a passion-filled dream that was sparked by that inner place of joy? There are a myriad of ways to find joy as you can well see. Where you find joy is up to you and your personal experiences.

What can you do today to find and feel your joy? I recommend that you first look to your family. Yes, they can be the biggest stress in your life however they can also be the biggest source of joy- if you allow it to happen. Start with watching your children sleep, remember the day your spouse and you decided to get married, the day your children were born, the time when your son or daughter received an award in school or sports, etc… Can you see it can be quite easy?It is really not all that elusive.

When we bring those joyful emotions back they help us fill up and forget the stress of the day. Remember if you are not keeping your joy cup full - you can’t give joy. You can not give what you do not have or feel. And that is a fact!

Personally, I get divine joy from my family. Of course it has not always been this way however I have grown wiser over the years- thank God. I guess there is some advantages of growning more mature- I finally realized the importance of the rose statement. I have discovered that only I can be responsible for my own joy. I have a choice to experience it or not. It’s really up to me. For instance, my 2 year-old grandson feels my joy cup everytime he hugs me. They say grand children are our reward for not killing our children. Ha! There is sometime about the pure innocence of a child. He has not caused me stress and I have not caused him stress and the love and joy flows to each other with out limitations. Wow– wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do that with everyone we hugged? Maybe if we stay opened to receive that type of joy with everyone we hug, that exchange would happen. In many instances, I feel that exchange with most of my family, however, not all the time. Who is blocking that from happening? Me. I can reject it or receive it. My choice and no others.

Like I mentioned earlier- your joy is up to you- you control it. You control how you feel. My wish for you in this new year is that you to put joy at the top of your list everyday. Then sit back and watch how your world will change for the better. Remember true success does not come without joy!

In Joy,

Vicki

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
Where? Down in my heart!
Where? Down in my heart!
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,
down in my heart
down in my heart to stay.

As a little girl raised in the 50s and 60s, I would sing this song in Sunday school. Like the other children in class, I would sing it at the top of my lungs as loud as possible. I absolutely loved that song. If felt it was my song because it made me feel so good and most of all joyful. For some reason, I just knew it connected me to my heart and soul when I sang it. I did not care if I sang off key- I was in the joy of it. I was being me! This is coming from someone who is completely tone deaf- ask anyone in my family and they will confirm this statement. I have always felt this song allowed me to sing like a songbird! As a child I could easily feel joyful. Of course today, I still sing this song with some joy- just not nearly as loud as possible- isn’t it interesting with age I have limited my joy because I care what people think–hmm? Something to ponder- what other joyful opportunities have I missed because I am an approval seeking adult?- kind of scary thought. Maybe I need to ask myself - what is joy? What is my definition of joy?
My dictionary says joy is the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or satisfying: keen pleasure. I believe it is more than that- I guess you can say everyone’s definition of joy will be somewhat different due to there life’s experiences. Maybe that is what happened to me - maybe my life experiences got in the way of feeling all my joy. Helen Kellar once said, “Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow.” I have to concur with her- joy is something that warms my heart and soul. Joy connects me to my divine self. I feel joy is the truth of what I am. I once read that, “Joy goes deeper than mere happiness and beyond any circumstance.” I believe joy is the reason we are here having this human experience.
What is your definition of joy? Dr. Wayne Dyer, the author of “The Power of Intention.” loves to remind us, “Do not die with your song still in you.” I want to take it one my step- “Do not die with your joy still in you.” Go sing at the top of your lungs and be joyful! Start with singing ” I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!” at the top of your lungs-I plan to!