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Today's
quotation:
Because gratification of a desire leads to the
temporary stilling of the mind and the experience of the
peaceful, joyful Self, it's no wonder that we get hooked on
thinking that happiness comes from the satisfaction of
desires. This is the meaning of the old adage, 'Joy is not
in things, it is in us.'
Joan Borysenko
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Today's
Meditation:
Joy
is in us. It really is to be found nowhere else, no
matter how nice certain things may make us feel. We
experience many nice moments when nice things
"happen," but the joyful person is one who is
able to maintain his or her joy even when circumstances
aren't necessarily so joyful. The things, the money,
the sex, the promotion-- these aren't the things that bring
us joy; rather, they just make us feel pretty good for a
while until our habitual emotions and perspectives take
over once more.
When
we're able to cultivate the joyful parts of ourselves,
though, we can allow ourselves to feel that joy all the
time. And certain things may bring us higher, but we
won't allow other things to bring us lower. Joy does
not mean bubbling over with happiness all the time--
rather, joy is about recognizing the beauty and
wonder of the world and ourselves and allowing that
recognition to help us to approach life in positive and
uplifting ways. Joy is about how we see and react to
the world.
We
can cultivate our joy by focusing on the beautiful and
wonderful. Personally I find my joy growing a lot
when I cut out the negative elements of my life-- the
movies about murder and hatred, the books in which people
are cruel and violent, the people who constantly criticize
and complain-- and focus on the positive. There are
many books and movies and articles and songs that are
uplifting and that illustrate the potential we all have to
grow into loving, compassionate people.
Your
joy is your doing, just as your lack of joy would be your
doing. No one contributes to it unless you let outer
influences determine your inner feelings. And when
we cultivate our own joy we can help others to discover
their own joy inside of themselves as well.
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