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8 Steps to Find and Practice Inner Joy by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale Step 1 Make an inventory of your joys. Get a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Head the paper, "My Joys and Blessings." Start with: (a) I am thankful that I am strong enough to sit up and push this pencil across the paper. (b) I am thankful that I live in a free country. (c) I am thankful that I have a good watertight roof over my head, enough to eat, and enough to wear. Step 2 Continue to make your own list, omitting nothing because it is small or commonplace - you would miss these if you did not have them. Step 3 List everything that makes you happy, such as your home where there is a good dinner awaiting you, the dear faces of your family around the table, a comfortable chair, a lamp, an open fireplace. Complete your own list and repeat it to yourself every day. Step 4 Step outside the house after you finish this lesson and take five deep breaths of good fresh air. Note every beautiful thing around you and think about them, such as the moonlight on the lawn and its silvery radiance falling against an old church steeple, or making the house across the way stand out in white loveliness against the night.  Consider the pattern of the sunlight falling through the trees onto a well-kept green lawn. Take pleasure in a lighted train rushing through the night, or the quiet stars twinkling in the sky, or the sound of the crunch of snow under your foot on a winter's night. Get your mind on these things which are the essence of life.  Relish them and they will make your heart sing within you. Step 5 Do an unexpected favor for someone and note the look of happy surprise in his eyes. This will fill you with joy. Step 6 Overcome something: a fear, a jealousy, a grudge, or a temptation. The glow of satisfaction that follows will make you realize that true joy in life does not consist of giving in, but in getting over. Step 7 Sing at least one song every day. This may not add to the enjoyment of your family or friends, but it will be a wonderful tonic for you, and the songs that can put the most happiness into your heart are religious songs. If you do not already know them, learn a few of the great old hymns and sing one every day.  A hymn with your daily shower will wash you on the inside just as soap and water do on the outside. Step 8 Compose your soul every night by doing two things. Ask the Lord to forgive you for any wrong done and thank Him for His goodness. A quiet joy will steal through your soul, and you will sleep like a baby, while happiness becomes second nature.      Copyright © Peale Center 1994. <<BACK