InJoying Life

Too often people equate joy with happiness and they are two different things. Happiness is essentially the feeling you get when something good is happening or you feel good about something or someone. Joy on the other hand, is there even when you are unhappy. Even in the face of adversities, you can still have joy knowing that this too shall pass. You can be joyful expecting that this tumultuous circumstance will not last always and everything you see is subject to change at any moment.

Now, that also means that the good times don’t last for long either. However, you can maintain your state of joy no matter what is happening on the outside of you. Joy is an inward experience of gratitude and thankfulness in all situations that keeps you at peace. That is, shalom: untroubled and undisturbed well being. Nothing is missing, lacking or broken and you have calmness, comfort and assurance that you will be just fine come what may.

Many people spend countless years and money attempting to find true peace and joy from sources outside themselves. Suffice to say, many of them never find it. Not because it can’t be found but because it cannot be found outside oneself. If you are looking to people and things to satisfy that craving for inner well being, you will be sadly disappointed every time. What you are looking for can only be found when you quiet yourself and listen to the still small voice deep within.

Whether you refer to this voice as God, Creator, Being, Spirit, Allah, your intuition, or if you don’t have a name for it or you may not believe there is a still small voice. What you’re searching for is inside of you and it’s been calling to you to open up your heart and listen. The only way to truly find yourself, know who you are and what you’re here for is to look inside. No one around you can tell you exactly who you are. That is something that is implanted in your core, your very essence and only you have the power to discover and unlock what it is.

The reason I spell the word enjoy with an “i” is to make people aware that joy is something that comes from within. True, everlasting joy that is unspeakable and full of glory is an internal experience with an outward expression. When you have joy, you smile and persevere through what would cause others to break and retreat in fear. Real joy causes you to hold your head up high and laugh in the face of a storm. Joy is not the absence of pain. Joy is the presence of Love in the midst of or in spite of the pain.

If you want to experience the joy that I’m speaking of. Get quiet and listen to the voice that is speaking to your heart. Then follow the instructions it gives you. Step by step, little by little, you will be InJoying life in no time!