Last weekend a friend and I travelled to the edge of South Wales for a long weekend away. One day we went in search of pine trees in The Forest of Dean.
Up until recently I’ve had a Ford Fiesta on PCP. I was coming to the end of my PCP deal. It was time to either buy the car or return it and get another. So I went into the car dealership to see what was available and got a shock.
Car prices, have really rocketed up. As have PCP deals. The car dealership wanted an extra£140 a month for my next car. We are already in a cost of living crisis, I simply couldn’t afford another new car, either to buy one or on PCP. So I thanked them for their time and had to rethink what I was going to do.
I decided to get a secondhand car, a cheap run around with a small loan. I searched and searched for a car in my price range. Various garages told me the same story: Lots of other people are doing the same thing. The cars in my price range were being sold the same day they arrived at the car sales garages.
Luckily, Papa had spotted this (photo left) mini at a local garage and it was in my price range. I took it for a test drive and decided to purchase it. So here we are ladies, gentlemen and others, my new old car. I’ve named him Nathan.
I was speaking with a good friend recently about that wonderful emotion Joy. I thought we all knew what joy was, how it feels and what would bring us more joy in our lives, but I was wrong. So let’s go over it.
For me what distinguishes joy from happiness, is its spontaneity. You never know when it is going to come along, but when it does, you instantly recognise it for what it is.
Joy can come in the most mundane experiences, or it can appear in new and exciting experiences.
Joy only appears when you are enjoying yourself and the feeling is impossible to force. It either comes or it doesn’t. You either feel it or you don’t. You can create the perfect circumstances for joy to occur and it doesn’t show up. You can recreate experiences that have previously experienced joy in and nothing.
But when it does show up – oh boy – it is so much more than happiness. It is elation. It is smiling from ear to ear. It is a high of endorphins, better than any rush you’d get from drugs. It fills your heart, your head, your entire body with excitement, pleasure and a desire to keep doing what you’re doing. It feels incredible.
I love joy. How could anyone not? And while we can’t guarantee that joy will show up, we can do things to make it more likely to happen. These include:
Connect with people that make us smile, laugh and offer us unconditional love and acceptance.
Pursue activities that bring us pleasure, particularly exercise, sports and creative endevours.
Spend time in places of natural beauty.
Step out of our comfort zones to experience new things, including new activities and new places.
Breaking routines, so that our brains experience novelty and learning, which are both key to new brain cell growth.
Starting any activity with a kind, positive and enjoyment mindset.
What struck me, talking with my friend, was that we can get too bogged down with the day-to-day life challenges, that we completely forget that joy exists. We forget it exists and therefore forget to go off in search of joy.
So here’s a gentle reminder, to anyone out there who needs it: Look out for joy each day. And try to create opportunities for joy to show up for you.
Blog soon,
Antony
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Friday 27 June 2025
About
Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.
Author of eight books.
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