Joy is the realization that all we want or need in life has been etched into our souls.
Periods of success followed by long periods of unhappiness and dissatisfaction are not the natural order of life. We are not put here to suffer and then die. Yet it seems that we are unable to sustain an even flow of pleasure and ease in our daily affairs and relationships. Things never seem to add up when we make the tally of pleasure and pain, ease and difficulty, good times and bad times. Perhaps this is because we are using the wrong measurements.
Joy, not pleasure; joy, not ease; joy, not happiness. Joy is an internal mechanism which keeps us on an even plane as we move through life.
Joy gives us the ability to move through an unpleasant situation, knowing that once we make it through, it is over.
Joy reminds us of what we need to learn in order to experience longer periods of joy. Joy helps us to see not what we are “going through” but what we are “growing to,” a greater sense of understanding, accomplishment, and enlightenment. Joy reveals to us the calm at the end of the storm, the peace that surpasses the momentary happiness of pleasure. If we keep our mind and heart centered on joy, the joy of growing, of knowing, of living, joy becomes a state of mind, not an elusive preoccupation we choose, only to have it slip through our fingers over and over.
From the book:
“Faith in the Valley” by Iyanla Vanzant
