Quotes of Inspiration
Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.
Joseph Campbell
Ever wonder why the emotion of joy is so hard to grasp? For decades, I have heard a very similar storyline. Regardless of race, age, gender, or other demarcation levels, one similar string of information seems most paramount when it comes to the journey of realizing our potential. When examining what people want, most will give one answer: Happiness. So why is this most foundational emotion so hard to grasp?
If we examine joy from a sense of higher purpose, we begin to see inroads into what may be both roadblocks in between and avenues for growth towards engaging a sense of blissful purpose. Joy is linked to love, and love, the highest ordered emotion, presents within it all other emotions, including the more negative wavelength emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, and loneliness.
What do these have to do with joy? Not much at first glance. However, under the paradoxical nature of the psyche, positive emotions such as love, happiness, and acceptance do not exist without their opposites. We cannot fathom light without its absence, just as we cannot fathom anything without the presence of its opposite. At a practical level of particle physics, any emotion is a specific transmission of cellular matter. It is both a chemical compound and a wavelength of frequency. It is up to us to realize both sides of the wavelength. They may be opposite in nature but remain integral to the whole entity.
Now, this may seem very philosophical. In essence, it is as well as scientific in nature. However, this working of the paradox and unification of the opposites is prevalent in everyday actions we undertake.
Take the emotion of joy. Do you feel it right now? If so, great. If not, there is some work to do. But the work to be undertaken is nothing more arduous than the journey you undertook to become the man or woman you are today.
Remember childhood? I hope it was a wonderful occasion for you. If not, don’t despair; there were plenty of lessons learned that can help you re-engage the joy you may feel lacking in your life. As a teenager, I remember coming into an understanding of whom I was becoming. An experimental attitude towards life drove the developmental journey forward. It was interesting, downright dangerous at times, but some of those things experimented with brought about happiness habits that still, three decades later, continue to act as a happiness habit.
While only having a narrow scope of joy habits developed during adolescence would be tragic when looking at life from the experience of a man in his 40s, the experimental nature so common to that age is needed to create new joyful habits.
Now I am not speaking of finding a new drug or substance to create a habit around. The illusion of joy offered by intoxicating patterns is too much spirit without a sense of grounding. Instead, find an activity you can engage in that would genuinely produce a difference in your daily actions, outlook, and future.
Do you awaken in the morning to visualize what your day will be? If so, try to see it having a beautiful outcome at the end of the day. If not, maybe it is time to start a power hour. Twenty minutes of exercise, twenty minutes of meditative contemplation, and twenty minutes of learning. What would your life be if you only spent 1 hour, 365 days a year, pursuing goals you yearn to attain?
Many blessings to you, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this article. May blissful habits accompany you on your journey to advance confidently in the direction of your dreams.
