How I Get Joy as a Value

*In the last couple of months, I have been fortunate to be able to share the troubles of others. Why fortunate? I believe that the ability to be very close to the pain and fears of others has allowed me to realize how utterly fantastic my life is.

*As with many of us, I am always able to find something that might not be going just as I would like, something I wish to be better, or different, or a whole other something. But as I watch others, and listen to the challenges they face and the problems they are experiencing, my world seems almost perfect. In fact, my life is perfect.

*My belief is that the more life throws at you, the more crucial it is to work on living in the present moment. I believe our lives are pieces of a puzzle. But we're not given ALL the pieces nor are we given a picture of the puzzle to help us put it together or to show us what it should look like once complete. Our job is to fit the pieces we are given together the best we can and work with what we have until more pieces arrive.

*Isn't that fascinating!?

*I have found that I am more and more able to work patiently with the pieces I am given knowing that the rest are on their way. Furthermore, I have faith that when those pieces do arrive, they will be for the best, even though it might not look that way at the time.

*Thinking this way has had several wonderful benefits for me. I am much calmer in the face of what might appear as an awful situation. I can literally stop and strike up a conversation with my Self?"Isn't this fascinating?" "I wonder what is really going on here that I am not seeing yet?"

*Almost every time I do that, I find gold! Usually, the reason I get into challenges is because there is a lesson for me. The trick is finding it! This challenge brings me joy. I always thought that joy was what you got when you found happiness.

*However, as I have struggled in the past to find "happiness", and continue to hear of so many others search for this same happiness, I now believe that joy is something else altogether . If joy is happiness, and you have no joy in your life, then it would stand to reason that you are not happy. That makes your joy vulnerable to your definition of happiness.

*For me, joy is having a willingness to accept the whole of life, knowing that it is not perfect. Joy is being willing to show up and meet what is there with no attachment to the result. To me, if I have no attachment to the outcome and can accept what comes no matter what, then I am free from worry, anxiety, or concern over what the future holds. For me, this freedom - is joy.

*It cannot be taken away, and it is with me always. *It depends on nothing and is almost invincible.

*The less we are attached to life, the more alive we can become.

*Joy is what I want for you! In-joy your self!

*As always,

Your online Coach and Friend,
*Miami www.creativemasterminds.com.
Helping everyone find their path and stay on it. coach@creativemasterminds.com

*Quotation of the Week
*I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it. Rita Mae Brown

About The Author

Miami Phillips is an ANSIR Certified Personal Coach and the founder of Creative MasterMinds who believes personal growth is an essential ingredient to being happy and contributing to this world. While his main focus is affordable personal and business coaching, he also offers motivational teleclasses, ebooks, reading recommendations and much more. To find out more visit his site at http://www.creativemasterminds.com or send him an email at coach@creativemasterminds.com

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Israeli soldiers, are seen during a patrol at the Lebanese-Israeli border, near the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, south of Lebanon, Monday Jan. 5, 2009. The hilltop Israeli outpost towers over this south Lebanon village along the two countries' border, its fortifications shielded by a metal anti-rocket net and marked by its high antennas. Both Hezbollah and Israel this time are saying they're not looking for a fight but both sides are on alert, watching each other. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)AP - Israel resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt after a three-hour lull to allow in humanitarian aid. Hamas responded with a rocket barrage.



People looks for jobs in front of computer screens at the California Employment Development Department in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. The country lost nearly 2 million jobs through November and more bad news is expected this week when the government releases data on weekly jobless claims and December unemployment. No matter how bad those numbers are, and economists expect at least another 500,000 jobs were lost last month, the pain is stretching into 2009. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - Pink slips are piling higher as companies scramble to cut costs even deeper to survive the country's economic and financial storms.



President-elect Barack Obama gestures during a news conference at his transition office in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, where he introduced Nancy Killefer, right, to the newly created position of chief performance officer. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - Pointing with concern to "red ink as far as the eye can see," President-elect Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to tackle out-of-control Social Security and Medicare spending and named a special watchdog to clamp down on other federal programs — even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy.



Illinois U.S. Senate Appointee Roland Burris, left, meets with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)AP - Senate Democrats beat a hasty retreat Wednesday from their rejection of Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama's successor, yielding to pressure from Obama himself and from senators irked that the standoff was draining attention and putting them in a bad light. Burris said with a smile he expected to join them "very shortly."



Protesters yell during a demonstration against the shooting death of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Grant was shot and killed by a police officer after an altercation on a BART train station platform in Oakland on New Year's Day.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - Protests over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer turned violent Wednesday night with windows broken, fires set and train stations closed.



President-elect Barack Obama is welcomed by President George W. Bush for a meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, with former presidents, from left, George H.W. Bush, Bill  Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP - Confronting a grim economy and a Middle East on fire, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to perhaps the only people on the planet who understand what he's in for: the four living members of the U.S. presidents' club.



In this photo provided by the Washington State Department of Transportation, water rushes past a washed out road near Blewett Pass on U.S. highway 97 in Washington State on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 in Washington State. (AP Photo/Washington State Department of Transportation)AP - Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.



Christian Bale accepts the favorite action movie award for 'The Dark Knight' at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards on Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)AP - Holy People's Choice Awards, Batman!



Workers put bulletproof glass on President-elect Barack Obama's Inaugural Reviewing Stand on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)AP - The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event.



Harvard's Jeremy Lin (4) drives for the basket in front of Boston College's Rakim Sanders in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP - Jeremy Lin scored 27 points to lead Harvard to an 82-70 upset over No. 17 Boston College on Wednesday night, three days after the Eagles upset previously top-ranked North Carolina.



Israelis take cover before a rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza lands in Beersheba, after they attended the funeral of Israeli soldier Alex Mashavisky at a cemetery, January 7, 2009. (Eric Gaillard/Reuters)Reuters - At least four rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel on Thursday, wounding two people, police and medics said, in an attack likely linked to Israel's offensive against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.



President-elect Barack Obama listens to a question from the media following a meeting with members of his future cabinet and economic advisors at his transition office in Washington, January 6, 2009. (Jason Reed/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama will call for quick action on a fiscal stimulus package in a speech on Thursday aimed at reassuring Americans that he is determined to stem the economic crisis.



A share trader reacts while checking share prices in front of the German share price index DAX board at the German stock exchange in Frankfurt, December 18, 2008. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)Reuters - A fresh wave of profit warnings and job cuts soured investor sentiment on Thursday after an employment report suggested U.S. job losses in December could be the worst in almost 60 years.



Senate-designate Roland Burris talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Reid's office on Capitol Hill, January 7, 2009. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - In an abrupt switch, Democratic leaders began talks on Wednesday to swear in Roland Burris, appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.



A customer looks at listings on display outside a Brown Harris Stevens offices in New York, June 4, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)Reuters - It took war, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the collapse of some of New York's famed investment banks, but Manhattan apartment prices are finally falling.



Reuters - U.S. cities are vulnerable to an attack like the gun-and-grenade assault that terrorized Mumbai for three days and killed 179 people, the White House homeland security adviser said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc is leading other lenders in advanced talks with key U.S. senators on legislation that would allow judges to set new repayment terms for millions of mortgage holders who wind up in bankruptcy court, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people involved in the talks.

Ali al-Marri, who has been held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, is seen in this undated photograph released to Reuters on January 6, 2008. An early test for President-elect Barack Obama will be the case of suspected al Qaeda 'sleeper' agent Marri, which will force Obama to take a position on his predecessor's claim that anyone the president deems a national security threat can be imprisoned indefinitely without charges in the United States. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - The case of Ali al-Marri, accused of being an al Qaeda "sleeper" agent and held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, will be an early test for President-elect Barack Obama.



Israeli soldiers patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border. The Israeli army fired into northern Lebanon on Thursday after rockets were fired at the Jewish state, an army spokeswoman told AFP.(AFP/Mahmoud Zayat)AFP - The Israeli army fired into northern Lebanon on Thursday after rockets were fired at the Jewish state, an army spokeswoman told AFP.



A Palestinian protestor flashes the V for 'victory' sign in front of an Israeli soldier near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's old city. Israeli warplanes bombed suspected arms-smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza early Thursday, as diplomats worked to secure a ceasefire in an offensive that has killed 700 Palestinians.(AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)AFP - Israeli warplanes bombed suspected arms-smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza early Thursday, as diplomats worked to secure a ceasefire in an offensive that has killed 700 Palestinians.




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