Some of us recently finished a new 21-Day meditation series offered by Oprah and Deepak Chopra. It was free, and through a Wishful Thinking Works Facebook group we met and touched based during our 21 days of meditating.

On the 22nd day, Oprah and Deepak shared a extra post and in it Oprah noted, “Spend time doing what lifts you up and brings you love.”

Oprah’s words are more important than they may appear at first. You see, to follow these words we must first know what lifts us up, which is something we talk about all the time at Wishful Thinking Works and our Wishful Thinking Women gatherings. We have to take time to truly understand what makes our hearts sing, then and only then can we spend more time doing it.

Often, you will find what lifts you up is in the simplest moments – stretching in bed in the morning, planning something special for someone you love, watching the sun set or rise, drinking a rich delicious cup of cappuccino or accomplishing a difficult task at work or home.

In the last few weeks of April, practice noticing what brings you true pleasure. Then spend a bit of time digging deeper to unearth the essence of those moments, the reason they bring you happiness.

Stretching connects us to our bodies. It is one of the few moments of the day that we really experience a mind-body connection. (Most of the time we only notice our bodies when they hurt or cause us discomfort.) If you like stretching, maybe you need to do it more often, to add yoga or exercise to your life as a way of connecting your mind and body.

If planning something for someone you love makes you feel wonderful, explore the topic of relationships in your life and doing things for others. How can you deepen your connection to those you love and to your community and the world?

If cappuccino is your thing, perhaps you need to provide yourself with more peaceful and delicious moments. Long lazy baths or simply a new body cream might make you feel relaxed and luxurious or maybe cooking a new dish or finding a new favorite restaurant. Maybe you need to add more time for reflection to your life.

There are so many reasons sunrises and sunsets could delight us – being outdoors, taking time to enjoy the moment, the majesty of the color  – explore what makes them special to you personally and find ways to expand on the essence of what they bring to your life.

Accomplishments come with widely varying benefits that may change throughout our lives. Personality, age, culture, environment may all play a role. Explore why your degree matters to you, why a promotion makes you happy, why making the sale motivates you, why refinishing a chair brings you joy – then keep going until you get to the core of why those “whys” matter and you will create a journey, which may help you plan or enrich your emotional and economic lifestyle.

There is a lifetime of wisdom and happiness in what you enjoy! Let all of your discoveries – big or small – pave the way for new paths in your life. Let them lead you and provide a solid foundation for bringing more peace and joy into your life.

Namaste.

PS And if you worry for even a moment that you don’t deserve more wonder and joy, you are not alone. We often create roadblocks for ourselves on new journeys, especially when we are focusing on giving ourselves more of what we love.

Know in advance this might happen, and if it does, be prepared to find ways to gently and calmly quiet those voices in your head. You can invite them in – don’t resist them, simply say something to yourself like “I knew you would be coming, please come in, take a seat.” Then take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and then smile to yourself for being so smart! You are not only are brave and courageous you are insightful and prepared –  you can handle whatever comes your way.  Great things are waiting for you, go ahead and explore.