Joy is a continual practice as a human being on planet earth. Just like getting better at a sport, an art form, or a craft, with time and attention we can excel at enjoying our life. There are miserable millionaires. There are exuberant people without a penny to their name. Joy, pleasure, is what most of us are searching for through most of our efforts. For some people it is innate, for many, it is a commitment. Gratitude practices, mindfulness, and conscious effort. No matter where you feel you are, there is room to grow. As outdoor enthusiasts, our lives have a certain amount of dedication to the outdoors. We have an advantage for this practice of life enjoyment. We immerse ourselves in beauty. Whether it is snow-covered mountains, long scenic trails, flowing rivers, vast oceans, ancient forests, or quiet meadows, we spend time where it is easy to see just how wonderful this world really is. We get to feel how vast, how expansive it is. But, this does not guarantee more enjoyment or that one can perceive the beauty, the vastness. I know this from my own experience. There are days in nature where I have been only goal-oriented. Only focused on something that I am wanting to accomplish. There have been powder days in the mountains where I am like an addict. Just needing another hit. Disconnected from the true depth of those moments. Pure magic and wonder. I still find myself lost in my thoughts about the future, or to-do lists, while in the middle of something I love outside. This is why the practice of dropping in is so important for the interpretation of our life. This simple training fine tunes self-awareness. What we are thinking, how we are judging, and the stories we are telling ourselves. The truth is it’s all malleable. It is all up for interpretation. What we see in the world, the sentences we form about it, and the way it “makes” us feel… We have a choice in all of it. I can be riding down one of my favorite snowboard lines, I could be paddling out to my favorite wave, I could be hiking my favorite trail, and be lost in stress, misery, doubt, or to-do lists. It is not the actual events, the things we do, that decide how we feel about life. So this is my encouragement. Invite in more awe, more wonder. Invite back in that child-like state. Play. Freedom. Excitement. Train for it. Make it important. It will impact every moment of every day of your life. Learn about what patterns and beliefs exist in you that are taking away from feeling how wondrous this life truly is. We are floating on a massive living rock that corkscrews around a ball of burning gases through infinite space. I am pretty sure each moment is a miracle…
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