{"id":35881,"date":"2015-10-29T10:18:01","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T18:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=35881"},"modified":"2016-02-07T05:56:39","modified_gmt":"2016-02-07T13:56:39","slug":"live-joyful-life-starting-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/h2>\n

The word that we use so often, but not enough when we\u2019re conversing with our inner self is the key live a joyful life.<\/span><\/h2>\n

My father is a <\/span>no-<\/span><\/i>person.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you ask him a question, his automatic response is <\/span>no. <\/span><\/i>In a while, after he goes through some mental process that is a mystery to me, he might say <\/span>yes. <\/span><\/i>Most of the time he actually does change his mind if you bring him back to the topic several times or present him with evidence. Usually it just takes a few kind words.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not because he doesn\u2019t want a vegetarian diner, or because he doesn\u2019t want to go to the movies or because he hates everything new\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s because he just reacts with a <\/span>no <\/span><\/i>to everything new. I know that and I work around it.<\/span><\/p>\n

You might think that this is a good thing – most people nowadays are too weak-charactered to actually say <\/span>no <\/span><\/i>and suffer a lot from that.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am quite sure you\u2019re wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not because saying <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>to everyone and everything is a healthy way of living and communicating. In fact, we use the word <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>way too much – we make promises and commitments that we never follow through. <\/span><\/p>\n

We agree with things we\u2019ve no idea about. <\/span><\/p>\n

We confirm that someone is right, when they are fundamentally wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

We say <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>too much to people and too less to ourselves.<\/span><\/h1>\n

My father is a <\/span>no-<\/span><\/i>person on the inside and out. He says <\/span>no <\/span><\/i>to everyone including himself. And he has a boring life he doesn\u2019t like much (he doesn\u2019t even agree with that, but anyhow). I can imagine the complete opposite of him – a person who says <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>to everything. That wouldn\u2019t be okay neither, don\u2019t you think?<\/span><\/p>\n

You would end up with a lot of regrets and disappointments.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what if, only if we tried to say <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>to the one person that matters the most and try to make them happy?<\/span><\/p>\n

YES, this person is you.<\/p>\n

We often (if not always) say a fake <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>to agree with someone we like or want to please. Now it\u2019s time to start saying <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>to ourselves! And see what happens.<\/span><\/p>\n

How To\u00a0Live a Joyful Life<\/span><\/h1>\n

I promised to tell you how to live a more joyful and exciting life, and I am sorry if I get carried away with my father\u2019s story but it had a point.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are limiting ourselves with every other <\/span>no. <\/span><\/i>Society has conditioned us to live in a world where being spontaneous and excited is seen as irresponsible and childish.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saying <\/span>no <\/span><\/i>is the first logical reaction to anything new.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because you don\u2019t have time.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Or money.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Or you are too old or young or busy or beautiful.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Because you just don\u2019t do that kind of things.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Because you are afraid.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Or tired.<\/span><\/h2>\n

All kinds of reasons to say <\/span>no. <\/span><\/i>And they are all legitimate\u2026..if you want to live a boring life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ask a kid if they want to do something they have never done or see something new. They always say <\/span>yes. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And when you and I start saying more <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>to ourselves, then the joy and excitement of life will be back.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Commit to a day of saying <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>to yourself, for small and big stuff, and see where this takes you. It might take you to the fast food restaurant eating burger after burger\u2026.But it might as well take you to your passion in life, to discovering new friendships, love, opportunities and experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you get that feeling that you should do something, don\u2019t say <\/span>no <\/span><\/i>backed up by logic\u2026.say <\/span>yes, <\/span><\/i>backed up by curiosity.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where you find excitement and joy in life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/span><\/h1>\n

Being a complete <\/span>yes <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>no <\/span><\/i>person on the outside is a big no-no. You either end up frustrated and bored, or regretful and with a bunch of commitments you can\u2019t keep. On the contrary, learning to say more of YES to ourselves can create more excitement and joy in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

We feel like the kid that\u2019s finally been allowed to eat ice-cream for breakfast.<\/span><\/p>\n

We feel like we are sneaking out of school to watch a movie or meet friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

We feel like we are finally allowed to be adventurous.<\/span><\/p>\n

And this counts for more joy and happiness in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Say YES to yourself and to your heart, it knows what\u2019s good for you!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Looking forward to reading your comments – what did you say NO to today, and what are you going to say YES to tomorrow?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

If this simple mindset tweak for living a joyful and exciting life sounds like something you dig,\u00a0<\/span>you should check out the Happiness Workbook<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for more (it\u2019s free and really hilarious at times).<\/p>\n

Antonia\u00a0<\/span>Zorluer<\/span>\u00a0is a designer,\u00a0<\/span>writer<\/span>\u00a0and content marketer. She writes for businesses at work and for pleasure at her personal happiness blog\u00a0<\/span>mintyhideout.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0where you can find inspirational stories and tips on using writing for a better life. She loves to connect and talk happiness and writing on\u00a0<\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Google +.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word that we use so often, but not enough when we\u2019re conversing with our inner self is the key live a joyful life. My father is a no-person. When you ask him a question, his automatic response is no. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":36526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[45,32,6],"tags":[4625,4669,4623,4624],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today - live a happier, more exciting and joyful life without changing anything big\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today - live a happier, more exciting and joyful life without changing anything big\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-29T18:18:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-07T13:56:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Screen-Shot-2015-10-29-at-10.53.11-AM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"295\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Screen-Shot-2015-10-29-at-10.53.11-AM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Screen-Shot-2015-10-29-at-10.53.11-AM.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":295,\"caption\":\"How To Live A Joyful Life Starting Today\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/\",\"name\":\"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-29T18:18:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-07T13:56:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today - live a happier, more exciting and joyful life without changing anything big\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today","description":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today - live a happier, more exciting and joyful life without changing anything big","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today","og_description":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today - live a happier, more exciting and joyful life without changing anything big","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2015-10-29T18:18:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-07T13:56:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":295,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Screen-Shot-2015-10-29-at-10.53.11-AM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Screen-Shot-2015-10-29-at-10.53.11-AM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Screen-Shot-2015-10-29-at-10.53.11-AM.png","width":500,"height":295,"caption":"How To Live A Joyful Life Starting Today"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/","name":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2015-10-29T18:18:01+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-07T13:56:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today - live a happier, more exciting and joyful life without changing anything big","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/live-joyful-life-starting-today\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Live a Joyful Life Starting Today"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}