Everyday, moments of joy exist in your life. How many of them do you recognize and acknowledge? Joy doesn’t always hit you over the head and scream, “Hey you! This is what joy feels like!” A joyful moment does not have to be a profound moment. It can be as basic as sitting at the kitchen table with your family, as delightful as listening to a baby coo, or as serene as watching a bird soar overhead. As you go through each day, stop and identify things and moments that bring you joy, and be grateful for each and every one of them.
#1 – Kick-start Happiness
Don’t wait for happiness to come to you. You must instigate your own happiness. There is no better way to start your week or everyday, for that matter, than being happy to be alive. In Kick-start Your Week With a Happiness Regimen, author Beth Kuhel suggests “easy ways to increase your happiness that don’t require anyone else’s input.”
#2 – Choose Wisely, Read Labels
If you are like me, after you read this infograph on fruit stickers, you’ll go into your kitchen and read as many fruit stickers as you can.
#3 – Cityscapes
Sculptor James McNabb is familiar with wood-working. He used to make furniture. Now he’s into “sketching with a bandsaw.” He collects leftover scraps of wood from other artists, pieces them together, and saws them into intricate shapes to create fascinating wood cityscapes.
#4 – Sugar and Cookies and Bars, Oh My!
Can a delicious cookie bring you joy? Depends on just how delicious that cookie is, right? Maybe you’ll find a recipe for one on Tidy Mom’s post 10 Favorite Cookie and Bar Recipes. 
#5 – Choose Joy
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen
Now go and spread joy!
