more joy
One of my favorite songs used to be Joy by Bastille. I’ve sung it in the car plenty of times, but I don’t know if I actually knew all the lyrics, or really comprehended what they were trying to convey. Naturally, I decided to google the lyrics to the song. The song talks about feeling “joy” when someone decides to pick up the phone and call. After reading these lyrics, I couldn’t help but question this example of joy. While I still love the way the song sounds, I’ve realized that these words don’t necessarily line up with what joy really means to me.
When I think about the things that bring me joy in life, I think of things that have been in my life for a long time. Family, friends, pets, routines, and places that feel like home are just a few of the things that come to mind when I think of joy. The common thread I’ve seen between all of these is that they are long lasting, and sustainable.
While getting a phone call from someone is great, I’d probably match it up with happiness, rather than joy. While both joy and happiness are great, I think we get caught up chasing after fleeting moments of happiness when we should be looking for constant sources of joy.
Being at home has reminded me that being happy and being joyful are not synonymous, even if the thesaurus says they are. While I’ve had great moments of happiness, I’ve also felt myself feeling down from all of the uncertainty in our lives. However, I think having joy is being able to know that our lives are more than the highs of greatness, and the lows of disappointment. Joy is most often found in the unfailing, consistent aspects of our lives.
The best part about joy is that we have the ability to establish it in our lives by surrounding ourselves with people who are reliable, and creating habits of gratitude that remind us that joy is in every seemingly ordinary day. Joy isn’t receiving the big prize, but it is enjoying every day of work leading up to that accomplishment. Joy isn’t usually a “what” we do, but rather how and who we do it with.
Moments of happiness are amazing, don’t get me wrong, but joy isn’t found in moments. It’s found in months of positive thoughts, and daily gratitude for all that can be easily taken for granted. Now, more than ever, is a time to find what brings steady joy, instead of temporary happiness.
How do you choose to create joy today?
There’s more to joy.
There’s more to it all.