There is a path that leads to Joy and these are the steps. Each step takes us closer to our goal of complete integration with the divine within, a full appreciation of all the aspects of love. In reality, these steps are taken over and over, in a spiral that never ends. So, let’s get started.
First step to Joy: Family and Relationships
As we come into this world of form, we are helpless and very much dependent upon those who are our caretakers. They are our family, our first support system, our first awareness of love. As we grow and mature, we add friends and may lose some family members, but we always need to keep a community of support throughout our lives; this is our foundation upon which we are able to take the next steps up the spiritual spiral.
Second step to Joy: Career and Service
When we mature and are ready to step away from the total support of our family, we will find a livelihood that suits our abilities and our values: a career. In our family, we learned how to live in relationship with others. Now we begin to learn how to live in service to others. In service, we learn the cycle and flow of giving and receiving. We are grateful for what we have been given and we see the joy in those to whom we have given. In this way, we develop and express our own self-worth.
Third step to Joy: Knowledge and Wisdom
As we gain experiences in our life and learn from the experiences of others, we add knowledge, the third step in our journey. From our accumulated knowledge, we begin to extract values and wisdom that make our lives less of a struggle. We begin to realize that there is something beyond the physical world in which we have lived, a world of connection and abundance that exists “beyond the veil”. As we begin to contemplate the unseen world, we are ready to take the next step.
Fourth step to Joy: A Leap of Faith
To this point, we have been firmly grounded in the physical world, but now we are ready to act on not just the rational thoughts of our brain, but the emotions and intuition of the heart and our higher consciousness. We take a leap of faith towards the unseen world of metaphysical laws. We begin to believe in things we can’t see, to trust that we are supported not just by our family but by the Universe!
Fifth step to Joy: Peace
When we know that we are supported by an unseen connection to the Source of all creation, we can relax and be peaceful. We can “let go and let God” take our burdens, safe in the knowledge that we are a “child of God” and the Universe is conspiring to bring us the support that we need to face the challenges that we are given to grow into a fuller expression of the beings we truly are. We let go of the past and plan for the future, while spending most of our time living in the present moment. We know that we are being led in the right direction and we release any attachments to our final destination, enjoying the journey.
Sixth step to Joy: Love
When we realize our connection to the creative force of the Universe, we open ourselves deeply to the quality of Love. We live in harmony with everything, because we are all connected, all part of the One spirit that made us and is within us. We become co-creators of our experience of life and we live abundantly. This connection to the Source of abundance and creativity allows us to express ourselves fully, bringing us to the final step of JOY.
Seventh step to Joy: JOY!
We have progressed from the human world of the physical to the spiritual world of the metaphysical and found our connection to this spirit within. Living from this awareness can only have one result — a deep contentment and a desire to BE, living as a co-creator of our experience, creating Heaven on Earth. This is the purpose of our life as a human BEING.
But, this is not a destination. The journey continues every moment as we are distracted out of the present moment and our awareness of the spirit within. Like mountain climbers, we fall down to the level of our current awareness and we climb back up the steps to reach Joy once again. Eventually, the falls become shorter and the peaks become more frequent and easier to regain.
Get Started Now!
So, find a step you feel comfortable with and start climbing. Sometimes, you will momentarily reach joy without consciously passing through the intervening steps, but it will be fleeting and you will fall back and perhaps be somewhat lost, not knowing how to get back to joy. The seven steps I have outlined will give you a map; give it a try!