You know those yard signs that say: 

“In this house, we believe: Black Lives Matter | Women’s rights are human rights | No human is an alien”… and so forth? 

We have one of those signs.

And every time I see it, I think we need another line that would read:

“In this house, we orient to joy.” 

Londyn (age 3) showed up knowing how to do this. She knows what feels like joy and doesn’t participate in anything else. 

I (age 45) took most of these 45 years to learn how to orient to joy and make my decisions based on what feels like joy, but I’m never looking back.

Today I want you to write your own sign, in your journal or in your heart: In your house… in the temple that is your life… you orient to joy.

And then start orienting to joy.

And do it without the need to convince or explain to anybody else why you’re doing what you’re doing… or why you’re not doing what you’re not doing.

Orient to joy and do it unapologetically.

When taking inspired action feels like joy, orient to that.

When action feels grindy and getting some rest feels like joy, orient to that.

When you’re clear about what’s next and moving forward feels like joy, do it.

And know that it won’t always feel that way, so let dwelling in great expectation and eagerness for the mystery of what’s ahead x feel like joy sometimes, too. 

Think about joy as the Inner Guidance navigation system you were given at birth by the Divine. 

One of my teachers is known for taking breaks from Q+A by announcing: “This is a perfect time for a segment of refreshment.”

When it’s hard to get clear on a goal or the going gets super grindy, that’s always a sign that it’s time for a segment of spiritual refreshment.

A segment of recalibration… a time to refill your trust tanks.

You get spiritual refreshment by taking a break from worrying, troubleshooting and trying to avoid the unwanted hypothetical situations you’ve been trying to avoid your whole life.

You get spiritual refreshment by pressing pause on your need for things to be fast, difficult or perfect.

You get spiritual refreshment by practicing radical acceptance of the fundamental truth that everything good involves a process of becoming and that you’re not the boss of what that process looks like.

You get spiritual refreshment by orienting to joy. 

You get spiritual refreshment by taking in the artistic endeavors and beautiful creations of your fellow human beings.

You get spiritual refreshment by getting out into nature and taking in the creative output of the Divine… All That Is… Source… Spirit… the Creative Power that formed all worlds.

You get spiritual refreshment by playing with dogs and babies and by playing, in general.

You break your holding patterns and hard hustle patterns by gently, compassionately receiving my reminder today that you did not come here for a 90-year slog on the treadmill of checking off the boxes of a societally approved, “successful” life. 

You came here for joy.

So when things get grindy, take a sacred pause and let your nervous system downregulate a little bit. Recalibrate and replenish by reorienting to things that feel good, soothe your spirit and feel like joy.

One more way to reset what needs to be reset is to suspend all judgment of your process of personal growth and your progress on your goals.

Reset and replenish yourself by refusing to rush yourself…

…by doubling the time you think any step will take…

…and by radically accepting the truths that (a) things take as long as they take and (b) Divine Timing means that even your seeming delays are actually beneficial to you.

So wherever you’re at in your journey on whatever subject, goal or desire has your attention right now, take a deep, delicious segment of spiritual refreshment.

And reorient… to joy.

Head up + heart out, 

The Inner Critic Coach™
Spiritual Strategist for smart, successful people

Tara-Nicholle Nelson, MA, Esq.
Founder + CEO of SoulTour

@taranicholle on FB | TW | IG | LI

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