Finding, creating, and embracing joy is a positive focus for life. Typically if we are living well, we will experience joy. How does joy differ from contentment, happiness, and peace. I believe that joy is a deeper sense of contentment, happiness, and peace. When you truly feel joy you feel it within and a deep sense of satisfaction and meaning comes with it. Joy is a positive pursuit.
How do you find joy in life? For each of us, that will be a somewhat different path, but I do believe there are some common ways to reach for joy.
Joy is not a singular pursuit
I don't believe you can achieve joy solely by yourself. True joy, I believe, includes others. The inclusion of others may be very intimate and spiritual. For example, I do believe that some achieve pure joy via prayer and reflection--a type of communing with the greater community in a prayerful, spiritual way. I also believe that joy comes from doing for and with others. If you seek happiness by yourself for yourself alone, I think I will be difficult to achieve joy. When I was down in life, my mom would always say, "Go out and help someone else." Though those words sometimes struck as insensitive, the meaning those words held essentially affirmed the idea that joy cannot be achieved solely for and by yourself--joy involves communion with others.
Knowing yourself leads to joy
When we don't take time to know who we are, what we desire, or who/what we love, we have less opportunity to reach a joyful state. When you don't know yourself, it is difficult to make good choices for yourself. For example, without self knowledge you may choose friends, jobs, and other activities that are not a match for your interests, personality, or capabilities. Instead knowing yourself leads you to people, places, and activities that match the best of who you are and what you can do. Take time to know yourself well as one avenue to reaching joy.
Know the world around you
Joy also calls you to know the world around you. The more you understand that world including the people, places, and events within that world, the better you'll be able to find avenues to joy. Knowing the world around you requires that you listen, observe, research, read, ask questions, and discover. Fortunately in this high tech age, there are countless ways to learn about the world around you.
Map your path to joy
With self knowledge, world knowledge, and good companions you can create a path to joyful events in life. This doesn't mean that all of life will be joyful because life will constantly present new problems to solve and situations to understand, but by mapping joyful paths, you'll have a better chance of experiencing joy.
For example, on my path to joy, I know that children will be apart of that. The children past were the children I taught and children in my family, and in the future, I suspect the children will be grandchildren, grand nieces and nephews, and perhaps children in the community. On my path to joy that includes children are events such as maintaining a collection of my favorite children's books and toys, staying abreast of what works well for children's development, and keeping a childlike, playful, open mindset. Nature will also play an important role with regard to joy, and I suspect that my close family members and I will engage in a number of nature-related explorations in the days to come. Service with and for others is a third main path on my joy trail because I get great joy when I am able to help others in authentic, positive, needed ways.
What truly brings you joy?
How will you support a positive path to joy?
In what ways can you help others to reach the joy possible?
Onward.