What is Joy?

Though I sometimes struggle to list my strengths, one of the things I can confidently say isn’t on the list is joy. I’m typically better at playing the stoic statue than the life of the party, though I have learned to pretend to be both when need be. But it got me thinking: if joy is something I would like to attain, what even is it? As I asked myself for an understanding of joy, I found I had none. So that is where I want to start today. I want to answer the question of “what is joy?” 

Here’s how I understand it: joy is big-picture happiness. Joy is the ability to see that things in life are, more or less, going well. A good way to understand it is to compare it to happiness. If joy is seeing the good in the big-picture, happiness is seeing the good in the specific. Joy would admit to the rough day where the car breaks down in the middle of the pouring rain, but would be cushioned by the fact that the job pays well, the boss is considerate, and the mechanic is just down the street. 

But wait, isn’t that just optimism? Not quite. Optimism is the ability to see happy details. Optimism says that the rain is a fun change of pace, the car problem could have been worse, and the mechanic is a really nice guy. Joy is able to admit that car problems aren’t fun, but joy turns mountains into molehills by keeping the momentum flowing in the right direction. Joy leaves room to grieve, to be sad. Joy knows that happiness and sadness will rise and fall like the sun, but doesn’t get bent out of shape over them, because they are the natural ebbs and flows of life. 

So what does it look like to be joyful? Joyful is not thirsty for dominance. Have you ever been sad, only to have it quickly followed up by the thought of “I shouldn’t be sad, we need to change this?” That is the voice of happiness. Happiness always wants to be in charge. Happiness wants the pain to go away, but joy accepts that it will stay the night, knowing that change will come in the morning. A joyful person admits that the breakup hurts. He doesn’t fight the tears when they decide to burst through, but they aren’t defeated by the presence of sadness. 

Imagine it like a movie. Most movies these days have fairly happy endings. So when the character loses a loved one near the very beginning, you know this isn’t the end of their story. The writer wouldn’t do this to you! He has a great plan for the rest of the story. Well, folks, joy is knowing that we have a divine writer, and that this isn’t the end of our movie. Even if it’s dark for a few seasons, joy is knowing that our happy ending is coming. Sometimes there are parts of the story that don’t feel resolved in this life, but joy is knowing that our happy ending is coming in one way or another. Joy is part of the good foundation on which we can build our lives, for it runs deeper than our fleeting feelings. 

Hopefully by this point you have begun to understand what joy is, but how, then, do we cultivate it? One thing we can do is to continue to cultivate a “bird’s-eye view” of our lives. One question I like to ask myself is “what season am I in?” Not every season will be your favorite, but it helps to change how you see things so that you can see it as temporary. Even the longest winter still comes to an end, and it is helpful to identify this. You could even get creative about it. Write the season on the top of the calendar, or keep a whiteboard in your room with the current season on it. 

Unfortunately, life-seasons are a little more unpredictable, but at least you can keep yourself grounded so that your mind doesn’t get bogged down with any specific event. Practicing this has brought me from a place of saying “another disaster? Come on, that’s the third one this year!” to “yes, opposition is to be expected during times of war. I shall rise to this challenge with honor, like the great knight that I am! This challenge shall not conquer for me, for I have been preparing for its arrival!” Do you see the difference? What would once pin me to the ground as another random act of inconvenience becomes part of the story. It doesn’t make the problem any smaller, but it makes me a little bigger because I was standing at the ready for what was coming. 

I hope this has helped you on the path of joy. I am no expert in the ways of joy, so if you have something to contribute, please come forth! Otherwise, I pray I have learned to enrich your life in some way, and that you develop a more joyful way of life.

Until next time

May Peace be your guide.