February 28
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Today's
quotation:
Joy is what we are,
not what we must get.
Joy is the realization that all we want or need
in life
has been etched into our souls.
Joy helps us see not what we are "going
through,"
but what we are "growing to"--a
greater sense of
understanding,
accomplishment,
and enlightenment.
Joy reveals to us the calm at the end of the
storm,
the peace that surpasses the momentary
happiness of pleasure.
If we keep our minds
centered on joy, joy becomes a state of mind.
Iyanla Vanzant
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Today's
Meditation:
We've
been led to believe that joy is a form of exhilaration, a
type of high that we reach only occasionally, when things
truly go our way and make us feel elated. If that's
the way that we see joy, then it's time for us to redefine
joy. Can joy be that quiet sense of satisfaction that
we feel when we're relaxing at home after a hard day's
work? Could joy be that amazing feeling that we get
when we look into the eyes of a child? Could it be the
feeling that we have when we're listening to one of those
songs that just hit us the right way and that we can listen
to over and over again?
I
say yes to each of these questions. And joy can be so
much more. As Iyanla says, "Joy is what we
are." But should we add, "and joy is what we
repress because we're afraid it can't last and/or we're
afraid of how we'll feel when it goes away"?
There
are tons of things in life that can give us joy--but we have
to keep our eyes and hearts open to see them clearly.
We have to acknowledge the effects they have on us, and we
have to allow ourselves to have those beautiful
feelings. We can cherish the joy that we feel, and
that strengthens it immeasurably.
So
let's "move forward and create new joy."
With the wonderful resources of our minds and spirits, we
can also create joy for others in our lives--for family,
friends, and even complete strangers. After all, when
the ends of our lives come around one day, will we want to
remember that we created joy and reveled in it, or that we
allowed fear to keep us from feeling the joy that was inside
us all along?
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Questions to
consider:
What are some of the most joyful incidents in your
life?
How do you define joy?
How might you create more joy in your life and in the
lives of others? |
For further
thought:
We are all capable of living lives characterized by great
joy. Within each of us
is an amazing human spirit that is strong enough to overcome pain and
disappointment. And no matter what our current situation happens to be, or what beliefs we
may
currently harbor about ourselves, we can tap into that inner strength and
wisdom
and move forward to create more joy.
Salle Merrill Redfield
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