Soul Sculpting Project The Joy Hunt J.I.G.

YouTube version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yabCO1IIvI

This week I am on a hunt for ordinary joys. I’ll take these joys and do the J.I.G. .

Extraordinary joys come now and then, but ordinary joys are very prevalent.

Ordinary joys for me are blue, blue skies, the smell of fresh bread, the song of canyon wrens, visiting with my goat kids.

Look around you. What are the ordinary joys right in front of you right now?

If you are in a challenging location reach into your memory and find an ordinary joy.

Maybe it was a walk you had with a friend or a good meal.

The 3 Step J.I.G. 1 Minute Project

Step 1 J: Spot an ordinary joy.

Step 2 I: Install the ordinary joy in our brain.

This installation process is fairly simple. We give focused attention to the joy. We linger with it, we savor it, for 10-20 or 30 seconds. If you can, encourage emotion as this will create a stronger installation.

Step 3 G: Gratitude. We express gratitude to God for this ordinary joy. “ I am so grateful God for this blue sky today and the eyes to see it.”

The goals of this sculpting project are to:

1. Connect more deeply with God

2. Increase in our ability to thrive.

When we increase in thriving so will the people around us.

Joy and well-being are contagious.

This project seeks to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.

How does the Joy Hunt JIG meet these goals?

Choosing joy and expressing gratitude to God are both encouraged in Scriptures.

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Phil. 4:4 and Rejoice always. 1 Thess. 5:16 are two examples of instructions to choose into joy.

Gratitude verses are frequent in Scripture. 3 samples:

Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, give thanks to God.
Eph. 5:20 and 1 Thess. 5:18 Always and for everything give thanks to God.
Col 2:6 encourages us to abound in thanksgiving.

Choosing to express gratitude to God deepens our connection to God.

How does the Joy Hunt JIG increase thriving?

Let’s begin with the J- Joy.

Research has found that a common end of life regret is that we did not step into joy and allow ourselves to be happier.

We instinctively know that a happy heart is good medicine (Prov. 17:22).

Ironically research also shows that many of us struggle with joy. I am one of them.

I know that it is fleeting and so I hesitate to enter in.

Others of us carry the belief that to be joyful is inviting disaster.

Joys can be fleeting and hard times do come. But rather than avoiding joy we are better served by fully embracing joy, because joy is one of the things that fortifies us in the tough times.

When loss and grief come one of our greatest treasures is the memory of ordinary joys.

Choosing into joy can be challenging but it is a brave step towards thriving.

How does the I- install of the J.I.G. increasing our thriving?

Bad things, the dangers in life install quickly and easily in our brains.

God created this useful function to help us avoid the bad and stay alive.

Good things, the of life do not install as easily.

Good needs  a few more seconds of focus to strongly install in our brains.

Our brains are growing and changing continuously.

We have the power by focused attention to change them for the better. By focusing our attention on the ordinary joys of life we are actually structurally changing our brains and increasing our capacity to be joyful.

When I spend a few extra seconds delighting in my goat kids at play or the beauty of a watercolor painting –

I am building up the regions of my brain that relate to delight and beauty.

The reverse works too, focus on the negative and I build up the negative regions of my brain.

When I focus attention on the grumbles of life –

I am building up the regions of my brain that relate to grumbling.

What we pay attention to changes our brains and therefore changes our lives.

The G of the Jig: Gratitude. How does it help us thrive?

Gratitude has been well researched in psychology and the list of advantages of practicing gratitude is long. Here are a few of the findings:

• Promotes higher levels of positive emotion (joy, happiness, life satisfaction, love)
• Promotes better sleep
• Increases connection with others
• Make us more stress resilient
• Increases our exercising
• Lowers depression
• Decreases greed, envy, and resentment
• Decreases pain
• Gratitude is a foundational practice in living a happy life

We have the time to do this 1 minute project and ordinary joys are abundant. One challenge we may meet is remembering to do the project.

Tip from Psychology:

Connect the Joy Hunt J.I.G. to something you already do.

“After lunch I will take 1 minute to do the J.I.G. .” Or “When I walk to my car for work I will do the J.I.G.”

I usually create a post-it note to remind me at first. You might use another higher tech method.

Soul Sculpting Project: The Joy Hunt J.I.G.

Take 1 minute to:

• J: Spot an ordinary joy
• I: Install it in our brain with focused attention for several seconds
• G: Express gratitude to God.

Post what you discover in our Soul Sculpting Public Facebook Group or share it with a face to face friend.

Looking for more information? Here is some work by researchers :

Joy: especially our reluctance to enter into joy: Brene’ Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

Installation in our brain: Rick Hanson, Hardwiring Happiness

Attention and the brain: Daniel Siegel, Mindsight

Gratitude: Robert Emmons, Thanks!

May you and I discover flood of ordinary joys this week.

Some of mine: Big flakes of snow, our cat sleeping in the window, holding our goat kids, finding beautiful rocks, hot (fresh) goat milk with maple syrup, rich musical chords.

What’s on your list of ordinary joys?