Joy is the ability to feel the essence of your own divinity. When you are in your joy, that is who you truly are. You are experiencing the divine. That is enlightenment. Joy transforms the lower expressions of anger, fear and jealousy into their higher expressions of concern, courage and obsession. I use obsession in the positive sense of the word. It refers to the ability to be focused on your goal. Locate your joy and bring it to all aspects of your life. When you are in the midst of a joyous act, such as a walk in nature, the company of your friends or a beautiful meal, fully experience the joy. Allow yourself to be filled by your joy.

Once your mind, body and spirit are filled with this joyous act let the event fall away. All you are left with is the joy. Take that joy to every aspect of your life. In a moment of fear draw upon your joy and allow your concerns to be expressed. In a moment of anger draw on your joy and become filled with your courage to take effective action. Choose conflicts that invigorate and are self-sustaining. In a moment of jealousy draw on your joy and become filled with your courage to take effective action. Choose conflicts that invigorate and are self-sustaining. In a moment of jealousy draw on your joy and become possessed by your passions. Allow yourself to focus on your goal. Dare to create what you want and deserve. Allow your joy to provide you with inspiration, information and insight into your own process. Let your emotions heal you. - excerpt from Kevin Ryerson

When You're Afraid to Heal:

We have all had those days where you feel as though your goals are not being met or those days when the thought of focusing on your plans for life just seem so overwhelming. Throughout our lives we set goals, we achieve goals, and we visualize goals in which we would like to achieve, yet there seems to always be something that keeps us grounded within our comfort zones. Sometimes we are just simply afraid to grow...to learn...and to heal!

5 Signs & Symptoms of Being Afraid to Heal:

Denial: Many times when we are hoping to grow in life, we tend to deny many of the faults in which we have acquired along the way. We stroll throughout our lives in constant denial of the real person that is holding you back from healing, and that person is yourself. The first step you must take towards true healing is to fully acknowledge your faults, write them down and make a list of how you can go about fixing them.

Procrastination: I think that procrastination is at the top of the list when it comes to healing. In order to heal there must be discipline. Without it there can be no growth. The first step to treating procrastination is to make a obtainable to do list. Many times we procrastinate because we are unsure of what we have to do in a day, in a month, and even within the year; so the time just creeps up on us while we are literally not looking and not planning, therefore leaving you in a state of a rush mode.

False Self Doubt: Many times as we go through our healing woes we tend to go through an odd pattern of self doubt/ This is where we knowingly tell ourselves that we cannot achieve our goals or that healing will never be achieved, all while knowing in the back of our mind that we are more than equipped to handle the healing process. This is an internal and external battle going on between your spiritual/inner being and your emotional self. To get past this stage one must deny that little voice that speaks within each of our spirits...deny it any reverence and over hear it with that true confidence in which you know that you have. Self doubt is nothing but a silent killer to healing.

Holding Yourself Back: Holding yourself back is nothing like procrastination. Holding yourself back is when you have an opportunity handed to you that will help your healing or growth process, yet you decide that the thought of taking that step is much too scary. You tell yourself that you are afraid of failing, yet deep within your heart you know that what you are most afraid of is succeeding. I have been in this situation before. There were times in the past when I was given an opportunity to grow mentally, spiritually and socially, yet I let my emotional self hold the most powerful force that I carry with me back...I held back my true spirit that felt confident, that spirit that said to me don't worry about it, that true spirit that had no fear.

False Depression: Another thing that we tend to do when we are afraid of healing is to fall into a state of false depression. This is where we almost “pretend” to be down, so that others around us will now focus on the fact that we are “depressed” instead of them focusing on our issues in which we are trying to heal. We do this because it is much easier for others to show us sympathy than for us to show ourselves truth. When you start to feel as though you are going into a state of “false” depression, especially if you are at home. Take the time to cleanse your mind through meditation, and to cleanse your spirit with a warm shower, recite a positive affirmation and make a list of no less than 5 things that you have achieved that you were proud of. We are forgetful beings, so many times when we fall into this state of depression we tend to be more focused on the things that we can't do or didn't do and forget about all of the things that we did achieve and the challenges that we met and overcame to achieve them. This state is where you gain most of your energy to heal, because it is through reflection that you are reminded that You Are Not Afraid to Learn...You Are Not Afraid to Grow...and most of all, You Are Not Afraid to Heal!