Wednesday, May 27, 2015

What does it mean to truly have joy?

As of late, I’ve been coming to grips with the differences between joy and happiness and found that the two are often interchanged. So let’s just nip this in the bud right now…Joy is NOT the same as happiness.

And you may have heard this before, but I’m speaking to those of you who haven’t.

Happiness is revolved around happenings. It means being affected by the things that happen around you or to you in an everyday setting. Say if things don’t go your way at work and you are “unhappy” with the outcome, but then in turn you are joyful at the mere fact that you have a job. Therein lies the difference.

Joy has more to do with your insides, your inner being. If you have joy then that means there is something on the inside of you that is consistently in touch with a bigger picture. If your inner being is aligned correctly, then the possibility of finding joy through anything is great. 

If you choose to live your life full of joy, you are untouchable. True joy means having the ability to function in the midst of madness. You may be unhappy, but you can also find joy in that. Joy does not mean you will never be unhappy, and unhappiness does not equal no joy.

If your joy disappears it is because you let it disappear. What is happening around you should not determine the length and width of your joy.

Many may feel that if you don’t have happiness there’s no way you can be joyful but this is a lie. 

How do you think those people who can smile in the face of destruction get through the day? That’s not simply based on the loose term “happy.” There’s something on the inside of them that is untouched by the darkest of nights. While the entire world is gloomy, they still have a light shining from the inside.   

To be able to say “I have joy” in spite of the craziness around you should be something normalized. We should never be wishy-washy, people who are swayed to and fro causing emotional wreckage. Don’t be an emotional wreck. Find your joy and choose to dwell in it every day. You will not be sorry.

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