Dear friend,
I hope you’re good today. Joy is one of our natural states that, contrary to popular belief, is NOT dependent on any activity or external event. Although life can be emotionally painful at times, underneath the molecular turbulence there is eternal joy. People who practise regular meditation and yoga will fully subscribe to this. Even in the more scientific approach to meditation (transcendental meditation), neuroscientists have uncovered that deep below our conscious level of thinking is a great stillness of mind, a sense of inner-joy and warm bliss.
For years, I would say: “When I get this, I’ll be joyful”, “When I get that cheque, I’ll be at peace,” “When I meet my heroes, I’ll be over the moon”, “When this happens, I’ll be happy” etc. The problem with this type of thinking is that whenever I did meet a “hero” or receive a “sweet pay cheque”, the excitement always diminished very quickly. This left me in an addictive cycle of anticipation: “I’ll be joyful when I accomplish the next goal.” There is nothing wrong with creating goals. I write new goal lists every day. However they will not bring me true inner-joy. Goals are designed to help the human race progress and to make us grow; nothing else. But to feel joy needs no planning or mental/physical activity.
I learned that main-stream society programmed me to need reasons or “special occasions” to be joyful. What a waste of life to put a price tag or a schedule on feeling good? Right now, in this very moment, we can feel joy without having to attach any conditions to it. The fact that we can say to ourselves: “I’ll be joyful when this happens” proves that we have the power to feel and to choose when we would like to feel good. If we have the power to be joyful, why deny ourselves such a great thing? It’s something to reflect on.
Christopher “Divinity” Dines is an author & former House DJ who helps people to live happier and healthier lives through personal development and spirituality. Follow “Divinity” at: https://twitter.com/#!/divinitydines
