Path to Joy, How to Be Happy & a Free Printable

Finding a path to joy, or even just a smile, can be incredibly hard. Today, I hope to help you find a way so that everyday there is sunshine, even when it pours.

It’s easy to forget, especially during times of chaos, that no matter what is happening our life is still going on. Even if we sit in our sadness and despair, we are still living and we still have a life. I’m the worlds’ worst about saying I don’t have a life. The truth is, even if my life is only staying at home and doing nothing it’s still a life. Perhaps not the life I want, certainly not what I dreamed of but it is a life, none the less. These things are parts of why I need this path to joy desperately.

In reading Take Back Your Life by Levi Lusko, I’ve been reminded that I have a life no matter what is going on. I am literally living it. While that is not exactly the message I’m receiving, it is what I’ve concluded. That, combined with a podcast from a life coach, has been somewhat helpful in pulling myself up and motivating myself. I’m not at 100% but, perhaps, I’m a little better. They have, as a whole, helped motivate me to get on a path to joy.

So, thought it was time to share ways found to motivate and elevate ourselves. After all, no one is going to successfully do it for us (for more than a little while).

Find Your Value, Your Own Path to Joy & Happiness Everyday

1. Recognize you are worth it!

Ever notice others seem to think far more of us than we think of ourselves? Either they are all really stupid, or we are completely overlooking something. Perhaps, we are valuable. I’m not saying more than anyone else, but we are worth it, we are valuable, we are somebody. It doesn’t take long to take a compliment and either forget it or argue it out. We’ll address that challenge below, but for now, start these exercises as your new habit. It will pay off, just try it for a week or two and see!

2. Change your inner Perspective

Maybe our self talk (inner thoughts) need to be force shifted. Rather than talking to ourselves like a critic, we need to force ourselves to think as if we are talking to a friend. We’d never tell our bestie she was stupid (not seriously anyway), or she couldn’t do something, was fat, ugly, her forehead lines were starting to get bad (that’s on my current self hate list) and so forth. Why do we tell ourselves that? It’s time to change our way of thinking. Hopefully, one day we will learn to love ourselves the way we love others.

3. Find Your Smile!

Some days can be difficult to find any happiness at all, either we’re down or life is just nuts or who knows what else. Make an effort, each and every day, to find your smile. Whether it be reminding yourself that your coffee is perfect this morning, the air is nice or you successfully got out of bed, find something to smile about. Find Your Joy.

Squash those negative thoughts that may come next and just enjoy the feel of your smile. I know it can be difficult, but we can do this. The physiological response to that smile will do something positive, even if we don’t realize it. You got this. If you need a laugh, read this post and you can laugh at our silliness. In case you are wondering, this is totally true and we actually did do this. My former neighbor and I got silly from time to time.

4. Acknowledge your accomplishments, big or small!

To help us get on track and realize we actually have done something useful, begin writing down what you accomplished today. Little things count!!! No matter what you do, it’s an accomplishment. If you had a super constructive day, write down what you accomplished (today, for example, I went to the gym against my own wishes and have created a printable for you!). Many days of mine are not so successful, sometimes my accomplishments are that I got dressed and showered. Guess what? That’s okay! Yep, it is! If that’s the best I can do on a given day, then it is, indeed, an accomplishment.

5. Careful What You Consume!

Not necessarily food wise, unless that’s an area you are working on, but more so media, news, television shows. I’ve found at times that Facebook sends me straight down the pit of despair. There are days and weeks that I just have to eliminate it altogether. I find it the same with certain television shows. Although I do enjoy them, there are times where every action on them upsets me somehow. If a show or song or whatever triggers sadness, I take a break from it. Be careful, my friends, what you take in. That doesn’t mean never again, just not right now. You are worthy, they (whatever it is) can wait!

Free Printable

I wanted to create a visual for you, something to help us all get on track with our new Path to Joy. Feel free to print it off or copy it down in your own notebook. Hopefully it achieves it’s purpose. (*When you click the photo, it will take you to the item in Google Docs)

Back to the Second Paragraph:

I mentioned at the beginning that I was going through the book Take Back Your Life by Levi Lusko, it’s helping on my own path to joy. I’m currently getting ready to begin day 3 and finding it a very good exercise. Each day (they go through 40) has a short 2-3 page chapter, ending with a prayer and a set of questions to help us get on track with life. Honestly, it inspired this post so it was pertinent to include (plus, it’s a review copy so I had to review it somewhere, haha). That being said, hopefully you know I’m too honest to pitch a book I don’t believe in.

Moving on, I am enjoying it and getting a lot from it. It’s definitely worth a look. Whether you are into the journaling part or not, the questions spark a lot of though and have made a difference each day I’ve followed through with it. I am, admittedly, the worlds worst at that whole discipline thing. Despite that, I’ve found it helpful in shifting my perspective. I suppose it must be, there’s an awful lot here to support that statement!

Take Back Your Life Excerpt:

Every person has a mission and a God-given potential to impact the world, whether they recognize it or not. But life presents challenges and traps us in a helpless, hopeless loop of anxiety and fear.

In Take Back Your Life, a blend of bestselling books Through the Eyes of a Lion and I Declare War, join Levi Lusko on an interactive journey to take back your life. With biblical truth and perspective, this step-by-step journaling process will help you:

• get out of your own way by learning to think right so you can live right,
• find purpose by discovering that God will do great things with your imperfect progress, and
• learn that your pain is not an obstacle to being used by God but an opportunity to be used like never before.

This is more than a book; it’s an intimate self-analysis tool that will help you recognize what’s weighing you down or holding you back, and equip you to embrace it head-on as you become the best version of yourself. Start thinking right, so you can live right.

About the Author: Levi Lusko

Levi Lusko is the founder and lead pastor of Fresh Life Church, located in Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and Utah. He is the bestselling author of Through the Eyes of a Lion, Swipe Right, and I Declare War. Levi also travels the world speaking about Jesus. He and his wife, Jennie, have one son, Lennox, and four daughters: Alivia, Daisy, Clover, and Lenya, who is in heaven.

A Little Begging (haha)

*** You can get his book free with a free audible trial through Amazon, that is my affiliate link and if you are thinking of trying audible, I’d be ever so grateful if you used it! For the Kindle, Print, Audio or CD edition of the book, click here. He also has a Study Guide to go along with the book if you are interested.