Happy Holidays, love!

It’s Christmas Eve (day), and I wanted to write a little somethin’ somethin’ for all of you!

Often times, around the holidays, we focus so much on giving gifts. I recently wrote a blog post on the Rutz Skincare blog about choosing presence over presents this holiday season. If you haven’t yet read it, check it out here! In the article, I talk about 5 unique ways that you may not have yet thought of to cultivate more presence this holiday season – because presence is truly the most incredible gift you can give someone, all year ’round.

I also wanted to talk today about JOY.

We often block our experience of joy, and get in our own way.  It sounds so counterintuitive – isn’t joy what we are all working toward in our own unique ways? Sure it is! So why and how do we get in our own way of experiencing what it is we truly desire?

Sometimes the “block” is fear of the unknown – fear of opening ourselves up and being vulnerable, even though that’s the only way we can achieve true joy.

Sometimes the “block” is that we believe we don’t deserve it. Or that we’re holding onto something else that we think will bring us more joy in the long-term so we play the waiting game instead of living our lives in the NOW.

We believe we can’t, so we don’t try.  Experiencing something new is frightening. If we’ve always lived in a space where negativity and practicality rule, then stepping out of our comfort zone, being vulnerable, and opening ourselves up to something new can be scary!

We can close ourselves off from joy by being too “proper” or reserved or too controlling. Let that inner child of yours go crazy this holiday season! Tear open that gift wrap with so much enthusiasm & gratitude, then jump up and down in your footie pajamas!

Stop living your life in black and white, and start living it in full, technicolor! Let go of inhibition. Stop worrying about counting calories, and eat what brings you JOY! Forget about the fact that your family members will never do everything exactly as YOU think it should be done and that it’s all out of your control, and choose to enjoy the time you’re able to spend with them.

Simply CHOOSE to experience JOY – it’s your right, especially this holiday season!

I’d love for you to comment below this post with 3 ways that you can make the shift and choose to experience joy this holiday season! I can’t wait to see what you come up with and to get to play with you in the comments 🙂

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Love & Light,

Emily