-Joy is a delight of the mind, from the consideration of the present or assured approaching possession of a good. –Locke.

-The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exhilaration of spirits; delight.

-A state of happiness or felicity.

-To fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.

-Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.

How do you define joy?

There are infinite ways to define joy.  Like everything in life, we all have our personal interpretation of what an idea means to us.

When it comes to the emotion of joy, we can all agree on why want to feel it.  Or can we? Why do you want to feel joy? Have you ever asked yourself this question?  When I ponder the question, the answer is simple, “Because I want to feel good.” 

It is our divine right to feel good. What’s more, feeling good is our sixth sense communicating with us, confirming we are on the right path to all we want.  It is the highest goal to aspire to and the true meaning of success.  In joy, we feel really good.  And in feeling really good, we are attracting the magical life circumstances we dream of, in love, abundance, health and overall well being.

From a metaphysical perspective, joy is the highest vibrational frequency.  It is the place where miracles happen.  In this field of energy, we are magnetically drawing the people, events, circumstances, experiences, vitality and all things we desire into our physical reality.    While many of us place conditions upon whether or not we will feel joy, many of us have come to understand that there is no price for joy.  Joy is a conscious choice.  It is a choice that can be made in any given moment, despite what may be perceived as problems or obstacles in our lives.  In this powerful moment of choosing joy, and in directing our focus toward things that feel joyful, we shift our energy in a cosmically powerful way and over time, those perceived problems and obstacles not only disappear, but reshape themselves into miraculous manifestations. 

My greatest teachers, Abraham-Hicks, explain, “The basis of your life is freedom; the purpose of your life is joy.”  This basic tenant of their teachings in the understanding and practical use of the “Law of Attraction” is in my mind, the simplest and most powerful message from the profound universal wisdom that is “Abraham,” channeling through Esther Hicks.  If you understand nothing else about the Law of Attraction, understanding that your purpose in life is joy and that in consistently reaching for joy you are not only on the way to feeling good, but you are simultaneously attracting more to feel good about, is enough to become the master creator of your physical experience.  It is the key to a magnificent life.

Knowing this, what more meaningful goal is there in life but the pursuit of joy?

Who wouldn’t want to experience joy on a daily basis? And why would you ever leave this blissful, creative, alchemical space we call joy? How do we stay in joy? When we’re not in joy, how do we get there? By focusing on what brings us joy.  Where do we look to find joyful things to focus upon? Right in front of us! In an innocent baby’s face at the grocery store, in the fact that grocery stores exist and bring us wild representations of abundance in the produce section alone, in the appreciation of the process that grows the multitude of colored peppers we see in that produce section, in the smell of the sweet strawberries on the seasonal end cap there, in the pondering of what we’ll do with those strawberries to celebrate the season, in the taste of the freshly baked croissant from the bakery on our way to the deli where people who want to accommodate us wait for our order of what we want to be prepared the way we want it and in the quantity we want it!!!

What can I say? I like grocery stores.  I feel tremendous joy, just by shopping at my local Whole Foods.  Give it a try and pay conscious attention to your surroundings there and you will experience everyday joy in this multi-sensory environment that celebrates abundance, a well spring of choices, well-being, diverse people, upbeat music, a sense of community and connectedness, and oh yeah….many open checkout lanes with friendly, speedy checkers and baggers.  No, I don’t own stock in Whole Foods, I just really love the place.  I’ll tell you why I love Costco another time. 

My name is Susan McCabe and I want to feel good.  I want you to feel good.  I want every person around me to feel good.  If not for simply the sake of feeling good, (which is reason enough), for the collective higher vibration of this planet. I believe it is time we talk about, write about, and broadcast about things that feel good.  So that’s what I’ve decided to do and this is my first post to the “Joy of Living Blog.”