Deep in the heart of your wildest dreams is a light that beckons you. As you draw nearer to it, you experience warmth unlike anything you have ever felt or known before. It is the kind of warmth that nothing measures up to- the kind you would do anything to hold on to because when it is present, you feel safe and you know that everything is going to be okay. You hold on tightly to this feeling, as though you may never feel anything so extraordinary ever again. In fact, you take it and you tuck it away, deep inside of you so that you will always have it with you. The more that you engage in your passions, dreams, and purpose, the more of this feeling you experience. This feeling… it is joy. You draw near to joy and hold it close because in joy is fullness of life, depth of heart, and breadth of purpose.
Joy illuminates from mind, body, soul, and whole being. It does not cower in the face of adversity or diminish in the face of tragedy. Joy is everlasting and it far surpasses that of even happiness. Joy stands in both good and bad times, in happiness and in sadness, in plenty and in want. It takes deep root inside of us and becomes a lifestyle, rather than simply an emotion. Emotions are flimsy and may come and go as they please, but, Joy? Joy is much deeper than that.
Joy is more than something that a person or an experience brings to us. Joy comes when we truly find peace with ourselves and hold on to something bigger than us, resting in the truth that we are not alone and that we can have faith that one day, everything will be okay.
Right now, in your life, is JOY something that you can recognize? Is it something you have tucked away so that if something unexpected happens you might be able to draw from its deep well and experience it? When you look at your life, is the glass half empty, or is it joyFULL? Does each bad experience outweigh the good ones? Or are you able to allow those moments that bring you joy to continue to produce happiness even when you are surrounded by hard moments?
What are you willing to do to find true joy? More importantly, what are you willing to do to hold on to joy once you have found it? What is currently in your life that you need to let go of to make room for joy? Past hurts? Un-forgiveness? Rejection? Broken relationships? What are the things for you that cause you to see your life as “half empty” rather than full of joy? Take some time to consider that perspective and truly know that if joy is what you want to see all around you, then you have to do the work to make room for it to grow. No one can do that for you, so let go of the past, grab hold of joy, and never ever let go.
