Colleyville Beauty Consultant Nina Cox is an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay. In this article Nina discusses Joy and Happiness in Life.
My name is Nina Cox and I’m an Independent Sales Director and Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay and this is my show called Beauty Today. It gives me great joy to talk to you this way. I look forward every week to finding just the right message to give you. A message that will better your life or make you life journey more joyful. Today we’ll talk about just that – joy and happiness.
Joy and Happiness go hand in hand. I believe joy is the emotion of great happiness, something or someone that provides pleasure or a source of happiness. Joy is a light that fills you with hope and faith and love.
Thomas Merton says: “Do not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were not created for pleasure: you were created for Joy. And if you do not know the difference between pleasure and joy you have not yet begun to live.
Real joy and happiness is not measured by material things, many of which give us pleasure. I know many rich people that are so unhappy and I know just as many others that are not rich that are genuinely happy. But does having material things mean you will be unhappy? NO! Material things, like money, are just tools. They make life easier and the appropriate use of them can bring great joy. I’ll give you some examples: Money can support a missionary in his work, it can send a child to school, and it can feed a hungry family, and therefore bring great happiness and joy into your life.
Humor, laughter, music and dance can help bring happiness into your life. There are some songs that bring a smile to my face every time I hear it. Do you have a song like that? There is some music that makes me want to dance. Sometimes you’ll see me almost dance when I’m sitting down. I believe laughter can heal many things, too. I love to listen to old comics, the ones that don’t have to use bad language to be funny. Red Skeleton is one the funniest with his Clem Cadiddlehopper character. Another one is Bill Cosby. It is so hard to listen to him and not laugh out loud. When we were first married and I woke up grouchy (not that I ever noticed), my husband used to tell me to either wash my hair or call my mother. One or the other would take my mind off the grouchy thoughts and put me back on track for happiness.
Yet these things are only tools to increase your enjoyment of life. Happiness and joy really come from God and well up from inside of you. Happiness is a choice each and every day. When you wake up you can decide, are you going to be happy or unhappy. You may ask, is it really that simple? YES! Do you ever say to yourself: “I dread this day, it is going to be a bad day”, and it is. But at the same time there are days that I say to myself, “this is going to be a great day” and even when not so great things happen, it still turns out to be a great day. I remember the day of my Dad’s funeral. I really was not looking forward to it, but it turned out to be a surprisingly, wonderful day! All my family was there and lots of my friends. Many people shared stories of how my Dad had touched their lives and it brought wonderful memories to me as well. We sang songs that my Dad loved and I had heard him sing many times. And of course the food was good. That day I laughed and cried and sang and talked all day and when it was over, I still missed him, but there was joy in my heart just from the memories.
Another day recently my daughter got married and that was a joyful day. We again had family and food and music and dancing. But so many weddings have stress and strife in them. All the “should’s” come out to lessen the joy. They should wear this, they should say this, they should… well, and it goes on and on. We all have preconceived ideas on how a wedding should be, and many times along the way, I thought those things. Whenever you merge two families into one there are issues that must be resolved and that is not always easy. We prepared the entire wedding in just 3 weeks, and that alone was a little stressful. So don’t misunderstand me; in my daughter’s wedding we still had moments of stress. But if you let these rule the day, it is not a good experience, nor a good beginning to a marriage. Both families just tried to remember that God and the love these two people had for each other were at the center of everything and it all worked out.
Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible. Norman Vincent Peale said that. Let me say that again: Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. So if joy is such a personal thing, how do you give joy away?
Well, stay tuned and I’ll answer that question after we hear from our sponsors.
Welcome back. We are talking today about joy and happiness, those things that bring beauty into our lives. The questions I asked before the break from our sponsors was: if joy is such a personal thing, how do you give joy away? It is really simple: Keep your heart free from hate (or love one another), keep your mind free from worry (in other words, trust in God), Expect little and give much, forget yourself and think of others.
Hate and worry are two joy stealers that rob us of happiness. Have you ever said, “I hate you” to someone you really love? I have. If those were the last words they heard from me, my heart would break. Over the years, I have tried to let go of anger and hate because it hurts others and hurts me, too. Worry is another one that steals my joy. Money can be the biggest worry. How can I pay the bills? Is my job secure is a worry for many people? Are my children or loved ones safe? My grandmother used to say: Let go and let God”. Sometimes that is easier said than done, but practice makes perfect. She started every day by saying: “This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. It comes from Psalm 118: verse 24. You can even put yourself right into those words like, I will rejoice and be glad in it. My grandmother got the idea from Norman Vincent Peale in his book The Power of Positive Thinking and he said to repeat those words in a clear, strong voice every morning with a positive tone and emphasis and your unhappiness will start to disappear. Get rid of saying: This is a bad day, or I look bad today, or anything negative like that.
We’ve talked before about affirmations and how they can change your life, this affirmation helps me: I, Nina Frances, believe this is going to be a great day. I feel good, look good and thank God for all He has given me.” Then go out and act accordingly. Walk tall, smile to all those around you, sing your favorite song. Eleanor Roosevelt said: Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give. So call someone today, tell them you were thinking of them and wish them a happy day. I try to call my friends on their birthday and sing Happy Birthday to them. Do you even know when your friend’s birthdays are? Treat your husband or wife with a foot rub this evening. They will be so surprised and happy. Don’t expect an equal return. Make a habit of giving more than you get and it will bring you happiness. There is no greater joy or greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life. This is a way to give joy away.
Most of us are programmed to stifle joy, especially for ourselves. We wait for a reward after we’ve reached some goal, pull it out on weekends or fun occasions. Then we run out of steam and only make plodding progress with serious goals!
Much of what we need to succeed lies tucked beneath the unopened umbrella of joy. Passion, playfulness, curiosity, awareness, optimism, creativity, intuition, wonder, imagination… the things that allow children to learn, create, enjoy, and master so quickly and easily… are the very things highly successful people use to achieve extraordinary results.
And last, but not least, say thank you. Thank God first for all He has made and given to you, and then thank others throughout your day. I read an article by Opra Winfrey called Thank You. She said: I live in the space of thankfulness - and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.
That’s because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.
Opra went on to say what her friend Maya told her during a crisis. “You’re saying thank you,” Maya said, “because your faith is so strong that you don’t doubt that whatever the problem, you’ll get through it. You’re saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds.
You’re saying thank you because you know there’s no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things. Say thank you!” So Opra did - and still does. Only now she does it every day.
I love the way Mother Teresa described joy: Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
Nina’s Nugget: Think about what brings you joy and give away some joy to someone else, today.
My name is Nina Cox, a Colleyville Beauty Consultant and an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay. I have been building my Mary Kay business for over 10 years now and have become quite successful, wining many awards. Please call me at 817-996-6586 or email me at ninacox@marykay.com for questions or assistance.