Journey in the Joy
Joy Is More Than Happiness; It Is Complete Harmony.
A blog on personal growth by Audrey Jolly
On her website, journeyinthejoy.com, Audrey regularly posts insightful, thought-provoking content about personal growth and effective interactions with others. Below are summaries of each of her posts, with links to the full articles.
Jump to Audrey’s earliest posts
35. Team Firstborn
Since I am the third child in my family, I never thought much about the significance of being the “firstborn,” because obviously that doesn’t apply to me, right? However, in Exodus 4:22 the Lord describes the house of Israel as “my firstborn.” Thus, as a member of the House of Israel, it’s important for me to learn what it means to be the firstborn.
34. About “Spiritual Resilience”
How can parents and leaders help youth develop spiritual resilience? What is parental success? What do our youth want most, and how can we help them make the connection between what they want most and how Christ can help them get it?
Sharla Goettl, in her new book Spiritual Resilience, presents some inspired insights to help answer these questions, using Nephi in the Book of Mormon as a model. I am excited to be part of the blog tour for this amazing book!
33. When Disciples Cut Off Ears
I appreciate the story of Peter and the severed ear because it illustrates a certain type of mistake we sometimes make: when we act out of courage and sincere conviction that we are defending Christ, and we have every reason to assume that we’re doing the right thing . . . but in reality we’re just hurting someone and further complicating the problem (and making our opponents less able to listen).
32. Hurrah for Israel!
If we can make “Hurrah for Israel!” our personal battle cry each day, and understand what it means, then our simplest efforts will rise in significance, our perspective will expand beyond our individual limitations, and we will receive greater power than ever before.
31. Jumping Into a Ward
Whether you’re brand new to a ward or you’ve lived in the same ward for 30 years, there are always new ways to take initiative and make a difference. In this post, I share ideas for how to jump right into a ward (ideas which I have gathered after living in 14 different wards in the past 8 years). While it may feel natural to ease into a ward gradually, the Lord is hastening his work, and we should as well.
30. The Jaredite Voyage and the Year 2020
There are many uncanny similarities between what the Jaredites endured in their voyage to the Americas and what the world is enduring in the year 2020. The Jaredites knew what it was like to have a year of uncertainty and limited social interaction, but they also knew three important keys to not only surviving but also thriving.
29. Adventures in Isaiah: Part One
Changing my attitude and approach to Isaiah could be one of the most important things I do to prepare for Christ’s second coming. In this post I explain my reasoning behind that statement, and I list a few resources to make the study of Isaiah a delight.
28. A Hero’s Welcome
There is a strong correlation between how we greet people and how actively we love them.
27. The MOTH in Motherhood
I never imagined the lessons moths could teach me about motherhood.
26. Ever Onward
The questions I should be asking are, “How can I better appreciate and cherish every moment with my loved ones? How can I increase my love and grow in my ability to express that love?”
25. My Inner Toddler: Part 1
By comparing myself to my son, I have fun realizing how much I myself am a toddler, especially from God’s perspective.
24. Motherhood: Nothing can Prepare You . . . for How Wonderful It Is
Any energy I spent mentally preparing for how hard and painful motherhood can be would have been better spent preparing to receive how joyful and wonderful motherhood is.
23. Developing Christlike Attributes: the Virtue Paradox
Years ago, I was challenged to study and develop a Christlike attribute each month. This post explores the phenomenon of how striving to improve in one attribute leads to improving in a different attribute instead.
22. Gratitude in Advance
Expressing gratitude in advance means to be grateful for something even when it hasn’t happened yet. In other words, you imagine the intensity of joy and gratitude that you will feel when you obtain that something, and then you ask yourself, “Why wait? I choose to live with that feeling now.”
21. Replace “Balance” with “Harmony”
Telling ourselves to have more “balance” makes us feel like we have to devote equal amounts of time to everything. When I tell myself to work on “harmony” rather than balance, this helps me remember that Christ is the melody I’m trying to follow.
20. Your “As You Wish”
Just like Buttercup from the movie “Princess Bride,” we need to be aware of what we and others say that actually means “I love you.”
19. Reach and Receive
I explain how we can increase our capacity to receive, and how our capacity to receive is often more important than our worthiness.
18. Eyes that Hear
Would you rather be blind or deaf? As I’ve learned ASL and studied Deaf culture this year, my answer to that question has completely changed, but not in the way you might think.
17. Stable in the Stable
When I look at a nativity scene, I try to look past how pristine and comfortable the figures look and instead try to imagine what it was actually like on that first Christmas. Then I compare the stable to my own life circumstances.
16. Select Your Search
When someone gets on their soap box, the only times when I don’t tune out are when the speaker is sharing information that I had already been actively searching for. I can’t ask you to start searching for the things I’m going to write about. But what I can ask of you is to make sure you’re on a search!
15. Words You Live By
Decide what quotes are not only your favorite quotes but are also the words that instantly spring to your mind and become your default-mindset in moments of pressure.
14. Deeper Honesty
Correction and criticism only hurt me when they support a subconscious lie that already exists inside of me.
13. On Strike Against Stress
Stress is the manifestation of fear. So next time you feel stressed, ask yourself “What am I afraid of?”
12. “Frisbee Factor” Part Two
When someone close to you is trying to change, how can you treat them in a way that doesn’t block them from changing?
11. “Frisbee Factor” Part One
Even when we wish someone would change, too often our perception of that person can actually be part of what prevents them from changing.
10. Healing Sleep
It takes greater faith to get enough sleep than to deprive yourself of sleep. Sleep is when the body heals itself.
9. “Good Enough”
Instead of worrying about whether we’re “good enough,” all we need to do is increase our capacity to receive. Good things can come to us only as fast as we are able to receive them.
8. Plateau or Phase Change
The times when you think you’ve “plateaued” are actually the times when you’re changing the most. (Definitely one of my most popular posts.)
7. Both Humble and Confident
I used to think it was impossible to be both humble and confident at the same time. But it is possible if you can be bold with love.
6. Joy Breakthrough
What can cause an electron to jump to higher and higher energy levels, and what can we learn from this about how to overcome our bad habits?
5. Modes of Motivation
We often have to cycle through several types of motivation before we reach the point when we’re motivated by joy.
4. Deadlines: Deathlines or Lifelines?
A Deathline is a deadline where a part of you “dies” after reaching the deadline, and a Lifeline is a deadline where you have more “life” in you after reaching the deadline.
3. Complaining About Complaining
Here I use irony and hypocrisy to ask “Why do ALL complainers ALWAYS generalize ALL the time? And why do complainers ask so many rhetorical questions?”
2. Analysis Paralysis
Analysis Paralysis is when you’re so stressed about saying “the perfect thing” that you can’t say anything at all. I discuss how there’s no such thing as a “perfect” thing to say. There’s only a perfect way to feel.
1. Meaning of “Journey In The Joy”
This post explains the difference between joy and happiness as well as the difference between having joy in the journey and having journey in the joy.