Do you know the TV and magazine ads that promise to help you deal with physical issues you might be experiencing? No matter what problem you have, there’s a drug or treatment that offers you help in managing your symptoms or condition. I’m very glad that this type of assistance exists and it’s wonderful to know that when you need support, it’s available to you.
The last time I saw one of these ads I wondered, is there some kind of pill or treatment for ‘conditional happiness’?
You may be wondering what this is.
Here are some of the symptoms. Do you create certain criteria that must be met BEFORE you can be happy? A list of items to check off, otherwise you think happiness can’t be experienced. Do you find yourself feeling happy and then wonder how long it can possibly last? And then, sure enough, it falls away. Do you wonder how it is even conceivable to be happy, given the state of the world? You want to be happy, but you feel so much stands in your way.
I’d like to propose a radical idea for you to consider.
What if we shifted our perspective? What if we all were designed to be happy? Suppose your core nature contained everything you need to be happy, and that buried deep within you, there is a place of perfect peace. A place you can draw from any time you need or want to.
While I’m thinking about this, I’m considering my choice of words. Maybe ‘happiness’ isn’t the right word. Perhaps, ‘contentment’ would be better. No, contentment feels limited, sort of like settling for something.
How about ‘joyful’? Yes, I like that word. I like opening it up to see that it means, filled with joy. What an awesome concept. I want to be filled with joy.
So, let me start over.
What if we all were full of joy by design? What if we came here to this earth with the capacity to feel joy no matter what we encountered. What if we believed that joy was our very nature. I love the way that feels.
Is this possible for you to conceive? I hope so.
Imagine what the world would be like if we believed that joy is a fundamental part of us, centered deep within each of us.
How would this change things?
Ahhhh, isn’t that the real question?
One important thought comes to me. If I truly believed that I am filled with joy, and that it is always accessible to me, I could see things from a very different perspective. I could allow joy to flow through me and embrace it with delight.
On seeing a person by the side of the road asking for money because they are homeless, I could open my heart and spirit and let my joy overflow. I could open my window and share from my abundance and watch as my joy spread into another person’s world.
I could look around and see the beautiful turn of colors in the leaves. I could get lost in the aroma of fresh baked cookies coming out of the oven. I could glory in the connection with others who share this world with me, like you. I could reveal joy wherever I looked.
Rather than living according to what I see outside of me, I could live from my center of joy. What a wonderful choice to have.
Messages For Inspiration 
Wonderful message, Dad. I’ve never bought into the idea of ‘happiness’ having a shelf-life. There is no inevitable counter-balance of ‘bad’ for the ‘good.’ Maybe I’m lucky (or fortunate) that ‘happiness’ has been my default, but I agree with you that it can be everyone’s default. What a different world it would be.
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Thanks Tommy. I love your comment and so appreciate you.
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This is interesting because over the decades of my life I’ve often said “If it’s not fun, what’s the point?” One of my personal goals has always been to find joy, although I have not always been successful because it’s been an aspiration that I was never sure could be possible. I’ve been working on changing my mindset.
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I hear you. Not an easy task, but oh, so worth it when it happens. Even small incremental changes seem to produce wonderful results.
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Dear spirit brother Rob,
I was taking the opportunity today, November 1, 2020, to read all your posts – backwards! I could’ve commented on each one of them – how they resonate and how they fill me with such joy in their truth! Then I got to this one on joy! And I am blessed to live a joyful life!
It hasn’t always been so, it seemed – I’ve had to do a lot of internal work over the years to remember who I am and to let go of all that is not who I am – and who we all are – pure love, precious, so beloved to LIA! Looking back, I realize it did not need to take that long – I could have remembered or re-discovered my natural state of joy easily and effortlessly by loving and accepting myself completely and deeply.
Seems like it’s part of the human condition to drag it out, or for us to go kicking and screaming down the path of letting go. Now I just want to share my joy with others and to help them discover their joyful self as well! To let them know that they can just choose joy – choose to turn on the light – to remember the light that we are and bingo – it happens in an instant! As I say this, the sunshine outside just got radiantly brighter!
Thank you so much for being such a brilliant living example and teacher of Joy and pure Love!!!
Blessings, joy and love, Ginger
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I have been reading, at intervals (catching up here and there), but I haven’t taken time to comment — this is not to say that each post hasn’t been an inspiration!
I just read, in order, Habits and Joyful, and both resonate with me — and seem to work together in a noticeable way. While I’ve had few “live” interactions with people lately, I have been noticing that even when I am the phone with someone, if I am truly present with them — projecting thankfulness for the fact that they are there with me in that moment, that I feel it coming back to me — and I’m talking about calling someplace about a product or service, or making a doctor’s appointment, not calling a friend. It is strange, but some of it has to do with COVID — if I express, as a I almost always do, a hope that the person I am talking to will be well and safe, what I hear back seems also to be sincere appreciation for my caring, I am also trying to make it a habit to just show more appreciation for everyone I come in contact with. This, in itself, makes ME more joyful and seems to make each interaction more nourishing.
This may all sound crazy, but the very isolated life I have been living has put the spotlight on the times when I come into contact with others, and perhaps makes each time a moment of joy. In the same way, I have been taking joy from the clouds as I do my walk each morning, the sunlight coming in my window as I settle down for my quiet time, and the moments when I get a good strong hug from my dear husband, Ken, or we share a little joke.
So…I want “joyfulness” to really become a habit. 🙂
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Thank you so much for your response and thoughtful observations. It’s interesting that our COVID induced isolation seems to have brought about some significant changes beyond its profound physical effects. Taking joy in the simple pleasures of life and forming stronger connections with others is certainly a beautiful thing. Thanks for the reminders.
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