That sounds like a good title for a country song! But think about it. Where are you looking for joy in your life?

Are you looking for joy only in the good things that happen to you? Are you looking for joy only in the accomplishments and not the journey? Is it hard for you to find joy in your struggles and challenges?

Let’s start with what joy means to you. A common definition is a feeling of satisfaction, contentment, and pleasure. For you joy may even be more exuberant and celebratory or a deep inner connection. Some people feel joy as a more peaceful inner feeling, while others are more outgoing with their joy.

While even others of us are not finding a lot of joy in our lives at all. Not necessarily because our lives are difficult and stressful or we are overwhelmed with responsibilities. Sometimes it’s just because we don’t know where to look for joy or how to find joy. We just don’t seem to have that mindset.

You know that mindset that a lot of us grew up with since our parents lived through the depression. You have to get good grades in school. You have to work hard. You have to make something of yourself. You have to make money and save money. You have responsibilities to your family.

And even when we had achievements and some level of success, we didn’t necessarily get high fives, pats on the back, and congratulations! It was on to striving toward the next achievement. You graduated from high school as valedictorian. You emerged from college with a 4.0 average. You were selected to the top law firm in Chicago. Did you celebrate any of those victories? Did you find the joy in your achievements? If you did, kudos to you. You’re a head above many of the joyless bunch of strivers, some people even get through seasonal affective disorder and need to find solutions as the Best Light Therapy Lamps to help themselves, and they get them from sites as Sad Lamps USA.

However, if you look at the path of your life, you’ll notice that you spend about 95% of your life on the journey toward your goals, and only 5% in the results, if that much. And if you’re not celebrating the results, you’re most likely not celebrating the journey. And if you looking for joy only in the results, you’re only joyful 5% of your life!

Since most of our lives are spent in the journey, doesn’t it make sense to look for the joy in every day activities as well as the accomplishments at the end of the path? If you were not brought up in an environment that celebrated and found joy in the big as well as little aspects of life, you can turn that around any time. Your joy is in your hands–and mind.

You can now become a joy seeker. Start by noticing what you are grateful for in your life. Can you find the joy in the sun coming through the window each morning? Do you feel joy when you eat a healthy breakfast to start your day? Notice the rewards you get even when you have challenges throughout the day. Can you find joy after settling down an irate client? Are you able to be joyful after you deliver a talk to a tough audience? Is it possible to experience joy while you’re stuck seeking a solution to a major problem?

If you can start finding the joy along the path to your goals, you’ll not only feel better about life and yourself, you’ll probably reach your goals sooner. More circumstances and people who can help you achieve your results will be attracted to your joy. So start looking for joy in all the right places and you’ll attract more joy and feel a lot happier.