Joy

What brightens up your life? What uplifts and enlightens you? It seems to me joy is something that’s drawn out from within, not something you take in from outside yourself.

So what draws out joy? It has to be inspired. Beautiful music, art, beauty, prayer, worship, even devotion can inspire and evoke the joy that, in fact, lives within you – often dormant.

And to be joyful, you need to celebrate all that you are, all that is within you. How often do we do that?

Joy lives in your heart. It happens when your heart is open. What opens your heart? Certainly, fear closes it. It’s hard to be joyful when you’re afraid.

Maybe joy is tapping into what is divine in all of us and celebrating that divinity, even in the face of adversity. To do that, you need to believe in it; you need to believe you are divine, that you have a spark of divinity within you. What fans that spark into a flame?

It’s not easy. And it takes courage. We’re so busy putting ourselves, and each other, down – or puffing ourselves up with arrogance, which is a defence against feeling down, that there’s little room for joy. This keeps your heart closed.

It seems you need to be still, to let joy in, if you are ever to feel it. You need to be with yourself and find out what keeps your light alive and shining. Then you will find joy from within and you will glow with it.