What is our purpose in life? What do we want to experience? If we could have anything, what would that be? One thing that most people in the world would like to experience consistently is the majesty and power of feeling joy.  What is Joy?  When you are in a state of joy, you are connected with and in the flow of Source Energy, the Universe or God (whatever your definition may be.)  Joy is knowing that you are free to create life on your own terms and you are the creator of your own reality. It is the free movement of self to express who you are and what you are. When you are happy and joyful, you are at peace with everything about you. In a state of joy, you are fulfilled and complete. Wisdom and creativity flows from within your being. You are inspired to heights of greatness and to the depths of connection with your Inner-Being. In the flow of joy, there is no room for jealousy, anger, lack, bitterness, fear, anxiety, or guilt. When you are in that state, it is impossible to hate anyone; it is impossible to wish to control or hurt others. In a state of joy, your life is transformed with passion and excitement. Aging slows and you live in well-being. Life becomes a wondrous adventure. When joy is your dominant state of being, you are at one within your kingdom of 'self', and you are able to freely share that joy with everyone you encounter. Being in this state of mind, in the NOW, places you at the point of manifesting the reality you desire. The Challenge? Developmental psychology tells us that, at birth, infants believe that they and their mothers are one. It is only between the ages of 5-12 months that children realize they are separate from their mother. This realization comes as a huge shock to the Nervous System and causes the child to experience dualism.                                          At the moment of that shock, there begins the development of an illusion or a False-Self that is founded in opposites. These opposites set into motion a dualistic world which is the foundation for learning and experience. Through opposites, the person finds out what they want and what they don't want. However, by about age 7, a child has accepted the limiting beliefs of those around them as their own. Usually, the dualistic environment teaches them; "It's not okay to be me, I am not good enough, I am wrong, or I am right, I must be perfect." This is further supported by the storytellers around them; parents, teachers, relatives and other external influences.  These scripts become the false-self that we call the altered-ego. These words and statements are the formation of your old story of lack, of what doesn't work and an endless path to more of the same. Until a person becomes "Aware, Present or in a state of Being" they spend their life living the false-self or altered-ego. As a result, they live in the past and the future, focusing on what doesn't work, what they don't have, and their old stories of anger, hurt, anxiety, worry and more. They have continuous chatter going on in their head about the old story of life and how it hasn't worked for them. In addition, they are addicted to feeling the low vibrational emotions of anger, hurt, fear, sadness and more. These low vibrational feelings become their dominant state of mind. The laws of the Universe, specifically the Law of Attraction, magnetizes back to them what they are thinking and feeling. We are electro-magnetic beings, living in an electro-magnetic universe. Whatever we hold as our dominant state of vibration, we ALWAYS attract back to us. This law has incredible power to keep people stuck where they are, until they become aware of how this law works and put it to work for themselves in a positive way. "Challenge, problems, pain are inevitable; misery and suffering are optional. As you become aware of what you don't want and what you do want, you can choose to access your personal power to change in the now."                                                                                                                                                                Cardell Smith How to Create and Experience Joy As a Christmas gift to you, we would like to share a simple process you can use to create joyful thoughts and emotions in the NOW. Start by creating a new story. Say to yourself, "I'm in the process of creating more joy NOW." Then follow the three steps in creating a New Story of Joy in your life: Step 1: Become AWARE (Being – Present – Conscious) Catch yourself not feeling joy. As you are aware of what you are doing to yourself, allow it to be. Notice the chatter in your head or thoughts you are thinking and the emotions you are feeling. Who created those thoughts and emotions to begin with? You did and they have turned into your old story of not feeling good. And that's OK. Say to yourself, "What is – is." Allow it to be part of you, for now. Remember, what you resist persists. As you become aware that you were the creator of the old story, it gives you power. As long as you blame others for your feelings, you are giving your power away. As you accept that you made the decision to feel bad, YOU take your power back.   Step 2: Use your freedom of CHOICE Now that you are aware of what you are doing, you can choose to do something different. Claim your own divinity and gift of volition to choose something different. Decide what you don't want, and choose what you do want. Move out of the past, your old story, and decide exactly how you want to think and feel. Choose to be in the now and begin to think new thoughts, new words and feel new emotions of what you want to experience in your body, mind and spirit. Begin the process of writing your own powerful NEW STORY, such as; "I'm in the process of experiencing and feeling more joy" or "I am excited about the idea of feeling more joy in my life."   Step 3: Claim your own divinity and the power to CHANGE NOW   Write a new story, on paper or on the computer. Make sure that it is believable to you. This is not about a list of affirmations. Your story must be written in words that you believe and can get excited about. Memorize it, or at least write it out and read it. Say it in the morning, during the day and at night before you go to bed. As this new story becomes a dominant part of you, as you feel it and know that it is beginning to manifest, you will create a new reality of being joyful in the now. The Universe will magnetize back to you what you are thinking and feeling.   The following will speed up your process of manifesting your new story, your new reality of living joyfully NOW.         Our Promise to You Use this gift we give on a daily basis to create whatever feelings or reality that you would like to create. It takes daily practice, as with any new habit. It is not a quick fix, as in; take a pill and all of a sudden life is rosy. It takes a desire to want it that supersedes your desire for anything else. When you want it bad enough, incorporate it into your way of living, and you do it every day, your life will become magical. This is our promise to you. Love and Aloha, Linn and Cardell Smith