Are you enduring or enjoying your life? That is question that I put before you.

Even as we reflect on our own lives and try to come to some conclusion, I am going to  assume that some of us have less JOY in the mix than is desirable.

I am guessing that in some of our lives ENDURE has got the upper hand on ENJOY.

Today, I present the first step in a formula for tipping the balance back in favour of ENJOY.

STEP 1: SELF

Re-visit how you see yourself.

Enjoy is incompatible with low self-esteem; self-hate or compounded frustration.

The greater the level of discomfort with yourself the lower the chances of experiencing JOY in your life.

If you listen to your “self talk” you can establish the level of JOY that you are experiencing and that you are likely to experience.

The less you love yourself and the worse you feel about life the lower will be the fount in JOY in your life.

Conversely, the more comfortable you are with who you are and the more fulfilled you feel about who you are the greater the prospects of experiencing unbridled JOY.

So, what am I saying? I am saying that whether you experience joy or not starts with you and how you think about yourself.

I am saying that JOY is not totally dependent on others and what happens outside of you.

Joy is yours to grasp. You too can ENJOY life…but it starts with coming to grips with yourself. It starts with understanding who you are and respecting yourself.

This does not mean that there are not things to be fixed and adjusted. But, you can only experience JOY when you learn to love yourself – blemishes, warts and all.

Tips for improving your self esteem include:

1. Watching your self talk

2. Not comparing self to others

3. Using valid and reliable yardsticks

4. Being realistic