I had a quick thought right after my last post, and I wanted to share real quick.
Are you happy, or are you joyous, and which do you seek in life?
A lot of people and guru’s now talk about “Happiness is the ROI”, and I agree to a point. Chasing money is destined for disaster of body and soul, but should we really be chasing happiness? When have you ever been HAPPY? How do you do it again? Would you know it if it came up and shook your hand?
When was the last time you felt joy? For me it was earlier today when my neighbor texted my wife commenting that the store was out of her bread (she has a restricted diet), and I decided to run to the store and get the kind of GF bread we eat here. It brought me JOY to take this action, regardless of the outcome of how she felt about it.
Now it turns out, that since she is a very sweet lady she took that bread and made a sandwich and took the time to text my wife thanking her for it. That made my joy INCREASE.
See I’m not sure in my life if I’ve ever felt happiness. Maybe I have, but it doesn’t stick.
Joy now, Joy I have felt. Joy I can recreate.
See words matter.
Did you know, in the bible version I use, happy is only mentioned 24 times, yet joy is mentioned an amazing 164 times. The Lord is directing you what to seek, but you are strong willed, and want what YOU want, not what the Lord wants for you.
In addition, Happy is descended from the middle english word for Lucky, as in it’s not something common or repeatable. Joy however descends from the word for rejoice (obviously) which is an action you take. St. Paul rejoiced in prison, thus joy can be found anywhere as long as you put your mind right and rejoice.
Seek joy in all things, and be rewarded. Try it.
Side note: I saw this on the bottom of the page while researching my piece. If this doesn’t explain the sad sorry state of our parents world in one shot, I don’t know what does.