Tag Archive for: joy

Finding Joy In Stressful Times

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Life is tough. It’s an endless battle of curve balls, highs, lows, experiences, and so much more. There’s so many expectations that we put on ourselves to be the best version of ourselves in the eyes of others. We struggle with stress and the inability to get out of our own heads. Are we good enough? Do we provide enough? Can we ever find some JOY when the world seems to be building up around us. Thats mental. It’s a trait that I hate to admit I “suffer” from. It’s personal and yet external at the same time. Finding the JOY in simple tasks might seem unachievable. So where is your JOY?

When times are tough we look for something to fill the gap, to bring some laughter and life lessons we can say we gave it our all. Recently, I became the coach of my son’s baseball team. I found a purpose that can be so impactful to the young minds that will shape our future. I find JOY even though it adds another item to my already stressful plate. Understanding that others depend on you is a path to self reflection and understanding that YOU are worth it. You can impact others. Others appreciate you. The smiles and thank you’s mean so much. Baseball was such a monumental piece of my life growing up. My dad and mom made sure I was able to be in team sports, they put their time on hold for me. As a result, I got to play in Cooperstown. I still have the ball from the game (homerun and grandslam) that helped us make it to the big show. I’ll never forget that day. I was 13. So, as I navigate each week I have the mindset that I can make dreams come true, establish kindness and collaboration, we can all experience that JOY.

I stress 3 rules that, after a couple of weeks, are impacting my son’s life:

  1. Be kind
  2. Be safe
  3. We are a TEAM, we WIN together

Those three rules are what I instill every time we meet.  Every practice that can be stressful to ensure it’s fulfilling, teaching the right things, how can this bring JOY, what do we all get out of a simple hour. Thats a win in my book. I see happiness, the new experiences, bringing community together for others. Stress comes in many forms and can consume/overwhelm/persist how we think about ourselves, but there is JOY in leaving our personal mental issues aside and provide life lessons to those that depend on us.

Understanding that stress can be overcome to provide JOY for others AND yourself is key to battling the inner voice telling you that you are not doing enough. It’s your super power that can be shared, it’s not yours alone. Bring joy to others and you’ll find that JOY will come back to you. Be a team player for your mind, be safe when you think of others, you can win too!

 

 

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A post shared by Ashley Ludwig (@mama.a.lud)

Celebrate You: it’s Ok to be Happy

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I think one of the hardest parts of the mental health journey is the ability to accept and celebrate your internal happiness. What goals have you met? Did you make any promises to your self this week? Can you find happiness in others’ joy when you don’t feel your best? What are 3 things you love about your life right now? Can you just choose to believe you are on the right path to mental freedom?

Choosing to celebrate YOU can be tough. The thought of embarrassment, shame, shyness, what will people think when you share yourself? Well it’s time to take a leap of faith. You can sulk in the unknowns of your dark mind while others are begging to understand. You have to set yourself free from self ridicule and in to the light of acceptance or you’ll never give yourself a chance of moving forward.

I hope this website stands as my leap of faith. I’m still a little embarrassed or nervous about the reactions, but in days it’s been overwhelming support. People I didn’t even know are reaching out to say it was “brave”, “encouraging”, and so much more. I can now choose to tell myself the same thing. I helped someone. I can make a difference to my own mind but also to others. I took a step forward.

For that one initial post, I thank myself.

This is one step that I fought to take for so long. I kept it all in and to myself. I would never let anyone else know that I was proud of making a small improvement, nor would I ever explain the pain behind it. I lived in my own paradigm of light and dark. Today I’m one step closer to getting on the path to inner joy.

Surrender allows recovering Nice Guys to see each life experience as a “gift” from the universe to stimulate growth, healing and learning. Instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” the recovering Nice Guy can respond to life’s challenges by pondering, “What do I need to learn from this situation?

In this process I also learned to celebrate the joys of others too. To use their happiness not as a “poor me, I wish that was me” moment, but to apply their method or achievement as a goal of my own. Promotions, fitness goals, life changes, birthdays, etc. Learning to be happy for others in time of uncertainty can prep your thoughts on how others will be happy for you, and then how you can be happy for yourself.

So, start with the inside voice through self acknowledgment. Even on a bad day you lokely achieved something good that you won’t tell yourself. You woke up, you got ready, you read your kids a book, you did something! It’s ok to be happy!