by Joseph Wardy

Created on: May 06, 2010

The cultivation of joy is from the book by Martha Beck called " The Joy of Diet". Ms. Beck's resume is impressive. She is the author of New York Times Bestsellers, " Finding your own North Star and "  Expecting Adam" and has taught career development at the American Graduate School of International Management.

In " The Joy of Diet" Beck offers ten ingredients for joy: Nothing, Truth, Desire, Creativity, Risk, Treats, Play, Laughter, Connection and Feasting. Here, I will focus on the first and last ingredients: Nothing and Feasting.

* Nothing. As a former time management trainer, I have suggested spending 15 minutes a day for planning as this commitment represents but one percent of our day, As an opposite strategy or as an additional one, Beck is suggesting devoting fifteen minutes to doing  nothing. Are you beginning to sweat? is the mere thought scary? 

We are human beings but we act in a continual process of doing, So, harmony and balanced is offset by continually chasing goals. Although goals are a necessary aspect of aspiration and prerequisitefor achievement, anything to an excess is a liability. The idea of doing nothing is to observe what is happening in our life without judging in order to make better decisions on what to do.  If able to do this, we minimize crisis through preventive maintenance.

Are you so conditioned to doing that this idea sounds impossible. Suggestion: Consider reading the best seller " The Relaxation Response" by Dr. Herbert Benson. In the book, Benson suggests relaxing using a conscious breathing technique of of counting as a method of observation and relaxation. It is really  the something of being  rather than the nothing of  non doing that keeps us in the moment.

* Feasting. In a nutshell, Beck is asking us to explore the not so obvious: creating the extraordinary from the ordinary. One way is by creating rituals. Beck writes: " it doesn't matter what the rituals are. The point is simply to notice that they create a consistent behavior "frame" that separates a certain act from the rest of our lives. Stop and pay attention to these rituals. You may never have thought of them before as occasions for celebration. From now on, I want you to respect each of them as a sacred rite, a passage from the workaday world into a place for feasting".

The idea of feasting creates a passage of joy externally ignited by the flame of gratitude internally. These are but a few of the hundreds of ingredients offered by Beck. Suggestion: Read the book and treat its ideas as a buffet by picking only what you need or want!

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