When Joy Becomes Mandatory 👮🏾‍♂️

Author

Damon Brown
September 25, 2024

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Hi reader,

Today is my birthday.

It’s odd when your day falls smack dab in the middle of the week, especially when you are adulting.

Wednesday is usually a busy day anyway with my weekly live show, the boys’ extracurricular activities, and other regularly scheduled programming.

A friend of mine (love you, Joan!) recommended having a designated day to celebrate.

I looked at it as Damon’s birthday (Observed). Like a Federal holiday.

And I started brainstorming what to do on the day.

Maybe rollerstaking, which I haven’t done in ages, but then I remembered, well, my age (and that I’m not Usher).

Then I thought about hiking a bit with my boys, as the local hills are gorgeous, but we all had a sniffle from the seasons changing and they already woke up tired.

It was a great idea.

But now I started to feel paralyzed in figuring out how to spend it 🤔

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And, before I knew it, it was my designated day and I started to feel funky.

Until I realized that I was in my feelings not because my day wasn’t scheduled, but because I thought it had to be.

So much pressure comes from requiring an experience to provide an emotion.

This date should knock us off our feet.

That restaurant will be an unforgettable experience.

The kids better adore this trip I’ve spent so much time planning.

It’s like we set ourselves up for mandatory joy and feel deflated when it doesn’t arrive 📦

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I felt embarrassed because I already know this: Studies show that the most memorable emotional moments, the kind we talk about for years, happen within the realm of spontaneity.

We can’t force ourselves to feel joy, just like we can’t force ourselves to go to sleep or to make ourselves feel love.

What we can do is create opportunities for joy to occur.

So instead, I opened the day up.

We ate chicken and waffles.

We played vinyl records and video games.

We shared lots of hugs.

And joy made plenty of visits throughout the day 🌻

Ready for your next good read?

On today’s BringYourWorth.tv live, we celebrate Banned Books Week by sharing some of the best controversial titles out, discussing why they stirred up so much drama, and why you should seek them out (while you can).

Bring your questions, feedback, and library card 🤓

Wednesday, September 25th

1:11 pm PT

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Let the sun shine in 🌞

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🙋🏾 I’m Damon! (http://www.damonbrown.net) I help side hustlers, solopreneurs & others like yourself bloom. As a bestselling author, 2x startup founder & 4x TEDTalker, I co-founded the popular connection app Cuddlr and led it to acquisition within a year while being a stay at home dad with my infant son.

🫱🏼‍🫲🏿 Today, my boutique coaching business Bring Your Worth supports hundreds through one-on-one virtual and in-person support, as well as behind-the-scenes services for TED, HEROIC, and other impactful organizations. You can catch this free weekly newsletter as well as the 18,000-subscriber strong television show BringYourWorth.tv.

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