Yes, You Can Choose Joy!
Excerpted from the book: The Goddess of Happiness, A
Down-to-Earth Guide for Heavenly Balance and Bliss by Debbie
Gisonni
What is joy to you? It can certainly take many forms. For one
woman, it may be the sound of children laughing or the smell of
puppy breath. For another, it's dancing in the moonlight or
eating ice cream. For yet another, it could be a soothing
massage or pedicure.
We often associate joy with the things and events in our lives
that produce the warmest and fuzziest feelings of pleasure, but
true joy requires no external stimuli. It's a state of mind that
exists regardless of what's happening around you. Children can
easily find laughter and joy in just being. I once read that
children laugh hundreds of times a day. Goldie Hawn, who seems
to have a perpetual giggling child inside of her, once said in
an interview that all she ever wanted to be when she grew up was
happy--just like she was as a kid. As an adult, she makes a
conscious effort to pursue inner happiness through quiet
meditation. Her inside joy is reflected in her outside life and
work, including a documentary she developed called In Search of
Joy and an organization she founded, the Bright Light
Foundation, to help young people live more positive and
fulfilling lives.
Bringing joy to others feeds our own happiness. If you grew up
around my family, you'd know that food always brought us much
joy--preparing it, serving it, eating it, or just talking about
it. I remember a story my father used to tell me about a time
when he was away from home in the Marines. One day, a package
arrived from his mother containing a homemade blueberry pie. He
was so excited that he and his comrades skipped the utensils,
broke through the flaky crust with their hands, and shoveled the
gooey mixture into their watering mouths. There was a look of
sheer joy in my father's eyes each time he told that story.
Later in his life, when he was dying of bone cancer, I
personally carried a homemade blueberry pie on a plane from
California to New York, just to see his face light up one last
time. Even when people are dying, you can bring a little joy
into their lives . . . and yours.
Joy can be accessed during both the happiest and most difficult
times in your life, because it is present in your heart at all
times. You have a place for it inside of you (which can be
found) and a memory of it (which can be reproduced). Reaching
into your store of joy is like going to the automatic teller
machine and making a withdrawal of happiness. But unlike your
bank account, there's an unlimited supply of joy to receive and
share!
Abraham Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they
choose to be." As a goddess, it's your choice to use your joy,
and your privilege to share it.