Please log in or Create a Profile to post a comment.
We're celebrating 25 years with you!
Help us sustain and grow our programs, support our global community, and make Br. David's vision for a more grateful world a reality.
Give $25 today to make the next 25 years possible!
2000 to 2025: Give $25 For Our 25th
Today I finally got my 2025 work goal completed all on my own!! Thank the Lord!! To tell you the truth I thought I would never get it. SO now that stress is gone I can enjoy my vacation next week on the sailboat!! ⛵🌞
Thanks all- such a huge relief
Awesome!
Congrats on your accomplishment Robin Ann 🙂
Congrats Robin Ann!
Enjoy the sailing!😎☀️
I don’t intentionally seek out joy very much . . .
I like the quieter version of it better these days.
Don’t get me wrong . . .
things can still excite me,
but with more of a softly, enveloping warmth,
than the wild exuberance of childhood.
Perhaps it sounds a little morose,
but it’s not.
Don’t feel sorry for me . . .
I feel it all,
intense and deep,
in colours vibrant and rich,
but more profound maybe,
with more meaning
and more gratitude.
I used to take joy for granted,
but don’t anymore . . .
I jealously treasure every little bit of it
and hold it to my heart,
knowing what a precious gift it is,
what a precious gift
all of it is.
I think
I have all of the joy I can handle
and then some. ♥
I can stop trying to find solutions and start enjoying the present.
That’s a solution, Deann. The more present we are, the more solutions come. “When in doubt, do nothing” Phil Jackson.
First of all, there are 3 types of rebellion: aggressive, deceptive, and strategical. The 1st is the wolf, bad policy. The 2nd one is the sheep, worst policy. The 3rd one is the sheepdog, best policy of the 3. I fall into the 3rd one.
Strategical and deceptive rebellion fall under the same roof. It’s just like how aligning dots and pulling strings look similar with the main difference being the former carrying a positive vibe. There’s a 4th type of rebellion that’s even better than strategical. That’s no rebellion, because it feels stable. All things related to strategy is high risk high reward. With all that being said, this question is a great wake up call. It reminds me to let go of agendas. Pulling strings is the last thing we need to do.
Keep myself from numbing and open myself to feel grief, anger, AND joy. Practice Stop Look Go in order to notice and take in those things that give me joy and then move forward being nourished.
Another path to joy that I would like to explore more is “mudita”, or sympathetic joy,– which I have just been reading about in Sharon Salzberg’s book, “Lovingkindness”. Even when I am not feeling joy myself, I can delight and take joy in the joy of others. Open myself to and embrace the joy of others. This community is a perfect place to practice this, since others often share their joys. Today I can rejoice in Jenifer’s joy at writing poetry in her native language and cannonballing into a pool. I can rejoice in Ngoc spending happy moments with her twin sister and sister’s baby. I can rejoice in Loc having a good time with his family in Florida and doing Vietnamese poetry on Facebook. I can rejoice in Michele waking up with the full moon on her face.
I also just got a text from a friend who had been feeling down, and she went to a rally in support of immigrants this morning and danced joyfully! Now she is feeling better. I feel joy in her experience.
I love this, ‘mudita’ – I felt joy last night for my daughter, Kerry – she ended up waiting on Saquon Barkley (EAGLES running back #26) at her work last night. All the staff were excited and she sent a group pic of them.
Nice!! Saquon is a good guy… and amazing player!
“Open myself to and feel the joy of others”
That’s so beautiful! Thank you, Elizabeth!
Yes for sure! Helping others, volunteer work and/or paying it forward in some way brings joy
I’ve discovered,
dear Elizabeth,
that feeling joy for the joy of others
is just as fine
as feeling joy for yourself . . .
thank you for bringing this up. ♥
The main thing I can do to open myself up to joy is to be present, and to view life through the lens of gratefulness. Also I love the idea of saying to myself that – I get to… rather than -I have to… when it comes to doing things that seem less pleasant or even painful.
Another thing that I’m still just learning to do that has been very important for me is to is to stop comparing myself to others. Comparing myself and then feeling -not enough- is a huge killer of joy for me. I recently heard someone say that no matter where I am or what I am doing, I am always enough. That is kind of mind boggling to me because I have always made my enough-ness contingent on my being competent or even able to excel at whatever I am doing, including just living my life. I am not saying I am competent to do everything, I am saying it doesn’t matter whether or not I am competent to do any given task.I am saying that I am enough as I am always. I’m still learning to think this way.
Related to being enough, but worthy of its own category is embracing me being me. In my art class a few months ago, I was struggling with a portrait. I was feeling like giving up on portraits and as if I was a terrible artist. I talked to another student in the class, Michael, and he said to me- Mary, you be you. That felt so wise, and true, and has stuck with me ever since. Mary, you be you. Mary, you be Mary.
May all find moments of joy in this day.
I like that……Joe, you be you. Joe, you be Joe. Thank you Mary.
There’s a book by Chogyam Trungpa called “Smile at Fear,” where he writes about a phase of coming home to yourself. I’m going to butcher this, but it’s something like “One day, Mr. Smith was suddenly fond of being Mr. Smith,” the idea of being totally at home with everything you are. The writing made me smile when I heard it. This conversation reminded me of it. Being everything you are is pretty darn good.
♥️
Yes,
dear Mary . . .
you be you. 🙂
Back at you dear, Sparrow! 😊♥️
Mary, I love your mindset of “get to” over “have to.” Reluctance is the last thing we need. It’s artificial.
Thanks, Loc!
No problem, Mary.
I will break the habit of routine that tethers me to its unremarkable demands and delays me from going into this good day until I meet them.. The habit that makes me miss looking more closely at the fly resting on the screen making plans about how it will spend its day. The one that pulls my attention away from the hummingbird treading air while sipping nectar, the squirrel clumsily raiding the bird feeder, and the billowy white clouds scudding across the ocean blue summer sky. This is joy in its purest form. The day’s demands can wait, but its joy will not!
Mary Miller, Order and keeping us in line are the purposes of routine. When it turns into perfectionism, that’s where the line gets drawn. It holds us back from enjoying the moment. Routine and presence clash.
Beautifully said, Mary.
Sometimes it feels like I have to be hardened against this life. Toughened up. Steeled against whatever might happen. Ready for the other shoe to drop.
I think a softening is required, to experience more joy in my life. A relaxing into the flow of this life.
A letting go of some control. Or more accurately, the fiction of control.
It’s a tricky balance. I saw a sign other day, it said something like “Walk by faith, not by sight”.
I thought, that’s all fine, but it helps to keep your eyes open, just in case. 😁
No kiddin’ Charlie.
I like my sign a bit better that was given to me as a gift. “Live by Faith Grow in Grace Walk in Love”
”I think a softening is required, to experience more joy in my life.”
I think so too,
dear Charlie . . . ♥
“A letting go of some control. Or more accurately, the fiction of control.”
Such a good reminder that having control is just a fiction, so I may as well let go of trying to have it — Thanks Charlie T!
I remember reading somewhere that joy has a surprise element to it. I value routine but there’s times where I get bored of it. So I try to “surprise” myself by doing something different, to shake things up. I was getting tired of journaling so I changed it up by taking up poetry. When I got tired of that, I decided to write poetry in Spanish. I’ve found a lot of joy by writing my feelings in my native language! Another example, I was at the pool the other day and I thought “what if I jumped in?” A part of me was hesitant, what if I hurt myself! What if I look like a fool! But I didn’t let this thoughts stop me, I took a leap of faith and cannonballed into the water, feeling a sense of giddiness afterwords. Even though it was a small act, I was proud of myself for not letting fear take over me. And for that, I am grateful. 🙏🏽🧡 I ask for y’all to Try and surprise yourself and see what comes up 🙂
Great advise Jenifer – I smiled reading about your cannon balling into the water, yes, have fun in life!
Love this Jenifer- so true!!
I love this Jennifer!
Surprise myself!
Great ideas, Jenifer! It made me smile to read this. I will indeed try to surprise myself and to be open to surprise.
I find joy in my life by intentionally looking for it.
I often make “looking for joy” a daily intention.
I must stay open & be present. It is all around me, I just have to acknowledge it.
I always find joy in Mother Nature. Everyday there is something lovely, beautiful, takes my breath away, moments with Mother Nature. 🌈
🕊️♥️🍓🌕
Relax. Do one thing at a time. Take it slow even if there’s a lot to do.
Such good advice, Drea!
Thanks Mary. I got stuck in traffic a lot yesterday and was really struggling to follow my own advice! But I did it.
Thank you so much for today’s question, as it comes at the right time and works as a reminder to me. I’m in Vietnam, and am enjoying meaningful moments with my family, especially my twin sister and her baby. On one hand, I miss Loc and our family in MN so much. On the other hand, I’m facing an inner conflict as the time to leave my sister and return to the U.S. approaches. I know I’m fortunate to have the support of my parents-in-law, which has allowed me to visit my family in Vietnam. This question reminds me to keep enjoying valuable moments here in Vietnam, and everything will be fine.
My Ngoc, keep enjoying every moment with your side of the family, your twin sister, and the baby over there. It’s less than 2 weeks left, and I’m looking forward to seeing you. I’m having a good time in Florida with our parents and their friends, hitting the beaches, and doing Vietnamese poetry on Facebook.
Welcome to Florida Loc, glad you are enjoying your time here.
Welcome to Florida, Loc!
The beaches are wonderful!!
Don’t forget sun screen!☺️
Enjoy!☀️☀️☀️
Thanks Mary. I’ll be in Navar until the 18th. The beaches are sure wonderful.
I’ve never been there, Loc. It looks really nice!😎☀️
By remembering that I deserve to experience joy just as much as anyone else. And by also remembering that the other side of joy exists, too, and that it’s okay not to be in a state of joy sometimes, knowing that nothing is forever. Thoughts come and go. Emotions come and go. The best thing I can do is try to remain present.
To be open to joy is the same to be as open for any other emotion that is part of the human experience for me. I must be present, aware, open for all possibilities and let the gift of another day unfold with out expectations or want. Like thoughts, emotions are clouds drifting by. Fluid as the water vapor. Can not capture them, to keep as an animal imprisoned in a zoo. May all be open to all emotions today. Peace and loving kindness.
Thank you, Joseph. You made sense of the question for me.
I can always find joy in Nature – the other night I awoke to the full moon’s light on my face and there she was again this morning looking beautiful.
You’ve been kissed by the moon,
dear Michele. 🙂
🍓🌕