When I looked up the definition of the word joy I was surprised by the mention of success and good fortune. I thought of it so much more as a word about “how” I felt and less about “why” I felt it. But the definition expresses “circumstances” that cause the emotion not just an expression of the emotion itself. So, the question then becomes, not just “do you have joy” but “what causes joy for you?”
I have been fortunate to experience some truly awe-inspiring events in my life. I recently had the privilege of hearing Deepak Chopra speak. He was amazing! One of the things that he spoke about was the equation for happiness. He explained that 50% of your happiness equation is made up by what your parents gave to you from the ages 0 – 5 years. At the time, a lot of people groaned. I didn’t. What came to mind was my birthday card from my mother on my 40th birthday. In explanation, I will tell you that I was born 4 days after my mother’s birthday. So, on the anniversary of our first meeting she wrote to me:
You were the birthday gift I gave myself. Who can top that?!
Wow! I was born into joy! The uplifting thing that Dr. Chopra said was that even if you didn’t have as auspicious beginning as I did you could overcome it. You can CHOOSE to overcome it.
I think joy is a choice. Part of the reason I believe people express fewer feelings of joy in their life is because they don’t CHOOSE to find the joy in everyday living.
It is recognizing the opportunities for daily doses of joy that help “call” joy to us ~ it is more than “stopping to smell the roses” this is about looking for things that happen in your life that put a quick smile on your face, make your heart skip a beat, gave you that little lift.
No one can be expected to be joyful continuously. However, if you find opportunities in your everyday living to appreciate these small, quick moments of joy, you will find that more seem to keep appearing. That’s why I call this first chapter “Manifesting your daily dose of joy”
Manifesting Your Daily Dose of Joy
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” ~ Galatians 5:22-23
I had a job one summer working at a food pantry out on Long Island. I tell people all of the time that this was one of the best jobs I ever had. I believe if felt the most fulfilling and gratifying of all of the jobs I have ever had.
The pantry was located in the back of the church, sharing the building with their elementary school. This was summer, so the only people there were the people that worked in the office and us in the pantry. Being my social, chatty, Gemini self, I became friendly with the women in the school office. I’m not sure when I first saw it, but they had a sign on the door of the office:
Peace to all who enter here
I would bet dollars to donuts that the people in the office had either forgotten about this sign on the door, or were concerned more with the work they had to do in the office and just didn’t pay attention to it anymore.
I did.
In fact, I started going in every morning to say hello to everyone and to “get my peace” as I called it. But, I didn’t just step in and step out. I would step in, open my arms wide, close my eyes, take a deep breath, slowly exhale and let the peaceful feeling wash over me. I would chat for a few more minutes about whatever and then go back to begin my day. It brought a smile to my face and the women in the office every time.
I tell this story to illustrate an opportunity that I had in my day that not only gave me peace, it brought me joy. I was joyful every morning just by this simple act. I always left the office with a smile on my face and more spring in my step. Many times it was the thing that put me in the right frame of mind to work with the clientele that we encountered daily at the food pantry.
I have no idea what those women must have thought of me when I first began doing it. Generally people are more subdued and considerably less expressive than I have a tendency to be. But, after doing it for a bit, they seemed to look forward to the time we had, however brief, each morning to experience our peace and joy together.
More to come with your first assignment...
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