Looking for Joy?
Joy is not “out there,” to be tracked down—it erupts from within.
“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked,” writes Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet. Joy and Sorrow are dual opposites; two sides of the same coin, and therefore, inseparable. When you’re joyful, look deeply and you will discover that it was once sorrow. When you’re sorrowful, look closely and find that it is a lost joy that brings you pain. We are essentially dealing with simple physics: what comes up, must come down.
The dictionary defines Joy as a source or cause of delight. But sometimes Joy is nowhere in sight.
I am not a morning person. To further complicate matters, this is a trait that my 4-year old daughter has also inherited. I must have told her seven, no, thirty-seven times to put clothes on, to which she replied, “My hands will be cold!” Finally, I dress this fully-capable person myself. While she sits, droopy, on the edge of her bed, my frustration waxes. Suffice it to say I am unable to maintain my sense of center while stuffing her feet into her socks. If the hallmarks of Spiritual Well-being are joy and peace of mind, I left my house feeling distinctly mental.
After depositing my child into her preschool (bye, Mommy!), I take five. Utilizing my awareness of the physical properties of my suffering (what is down, must come up), I breathe deeply, exhaling the morning’s tension, and go about my business. The last thing I want to do is harden myself around the experience, forcing it to remain Sorrow.
Later that day…
We are home from school and Kayana is taking a bath. She is singing “Jingle Bells” at the top of her lungs, a unique Black-Eyed Peas remix: “Jindle bells, jindle bells, jindle allthaway, right on da bornerline is where I’m dunna stay….”
In direct proportion to my earlier frustration, I now find myself giggling with glee. These moments would be harder to appreciate if I didn’t have the difficult ones to offer contrast.
Joy is the English word for something that in another language might translate to “the sensation of spirit moving within.” The alchemy of spirit is such that sorrow is transformed—it becomes the very fertilizer that allows joy to blossom, full and strong.
The test you crammed and fretted over comes back with a passing grade.
You lose your favorite hat but find awesome new boots for half price.
The delight you find sitting in a clean car comes of its recent filth.
A healthy dinner feels even better because you ate a greasy burrito the night before.
With ACCEPTANCE of the struggles, an UNCONDITIONAL willingness to embrace yourself as a human being every day, and COMMITMENT to being all you can be (You’re here aren’t you? Sense of Purpose=LiveWell!), even your most awkward moments can serve to point you in the right direction.
Joy is here.
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