J is for June and for JOY!!
Joy… What comes to mind when you think of joy? Have you heard the term “unadulterated joy”? Take that term apart – “un-adult” – and it seems to imply adulthood gets in the way of joy. I recently had a conversation about my own relationship with joy and this idea that I need to earn it, need to complete all the tasks on my to-do list before I can experience joy. Unsurprisingly, the to-do list is never-ending! Does this resonate with any of you, this idea that joy is only allowed once you’ve done your chores? When I also think more about joy, I think of children and the purity of their joy in the simple pleasures and new experiences of life – playing in the rain or running through the sprinklers, eating ice cream, learning to walk and run, building a fort or a Lego creation, sharing their success, playing at the park – the list goes on and on. I have memories of this joy, but I admit, I often think partaking in that kind of joy is now out of reach as an adult.
But what if it is not? What if we can still tap into that child-like, “unadulterated” joy? What if we don’t have to earn it but can stop and experience joy along the way, as we work through that never-ending to-do list of adulthood? If the list is never-ending, what’s the harm in a break from time to time? This is what I encourage you to think about as you read this June edition of Three Thoughts for Thursday and embark upon the summer months. How can you invite more joy into your life? How might joy be just the thing you need to fill up and go further? How might you look at life through the eyes of a child and pause now and then to pick a dandelion, eat a popsicle on a hot day, laugh, jump in a puddle, and simply live in the joy of the moment?
Quote(s) I am sitting with, pondering and find inspiring:
“Joy comes to us in ordinary moments. We risk missing out when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.”
~ Brené Brown ~
Podcast I’m Listening to:
The Happiness Lab – Laurie Santos
You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life… more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You’re dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale — the most popular class in the university’s 300-year history — The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness.
Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Lao Tzu
May 2, 2021 : 37:09
The challenges of life often cause us to work frantically to overcome our difficulties – but the Chinese thinker Lao Tzu recommended that instead we should emulate the slow, steady, yet powerful flow of a river.
Solala Towler has studies and taught the principles of Daoism for more than 30 years – and explains how we can implement them into our daily lives. Things like retaining our childlike wonder, being content to go with the flow, and appreciating moderation in all things so that we don’t burn ourselves out.
You can read more about Solala’s work at https://abodetao.com/
Book I am Reading:
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
An instant New York Times bestseller
Two spiritual giants. Five days. One timeless question.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet.
In April 2015, Archbishop Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama’s home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness’s eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others. They looked back on their long lives to answer a single burning question: How do we find joy in the face of life’s inevitable suffering?
They traded intimate stories, teased each other continually, and shared their spiritual practices. By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy.
This book offers us a rare opportunity to experience their astonishing and unprecedented week together, from the first embrace to the final good-bye.
We get to listen as they explore the Nature of True Joy and confront each of the Obstacles of Joy—from fear, stress, and anger to grief, illness, and death. They then offer us the Eight Pillars of Joy, which provide the foundation for lasting happiness. Throughout, they include stories, wisdom, and science. Finally, they share their daily Joy Practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives.
The Archbishop has never claimed sainthood, and the Dalai Lama considers himself a simple monk. In this unique collaboration, they offer us the reflection of real lives filled with pain and turmoil in the midst of which they have been able to discover a level of peace, of courage, and of joy to which we can all aspire in our own lives.
Recently, I had the opportunity to be a guest on a podcast – my first time and it was so fun! Erika Parker Price created the podcast, Ready, Pause, Go, “the only podcast that focuses on the POWER of the career pause.” You can listen to my episode with her here.
Please check out my latest blog post, Lessons of the Run, Part IV: GRIT. You can also find recent posts Are we Losing Our Humanity? and previous lessons of the run, Lessons from the Run, Part 1: Mile 18 – Endurance, and Lessons from the Run, Part 2: Resilience, Lessons of the Run, Part 3: Rest. If you missed my May edition of Three Thoughts for Thursday, you can find it here, on my blog as well.
On April 27th, Kathy Hadizadeh and I kicked off the Emotional Intelligence Special Interest Group for ICFLA. Our next session will be on June 22nd and we will be diving deeper into Self-Awareness: Surfacing and Understanding Emotions. If you are interested in joining and co-creating this learning community, please use the link above to find out more and to come along for the journey!
I’m always looking for new inspiration, new books to read, new podcasts to listen to, so please send your suggestions my way or comment on this post to offer some new recommendations! Your feedback is always appreciated!
Desiree Briel Rodi Consulting & Coaching 
[…] circumstances. If you missed my June edition of Three Thoughts for Thursday, you can find it here, on my blog, as well. Beginning April 27th, I have had the privilege of Co-Hosting with […]
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