Joy and Happiness

Some sources say happiness is the same thing as joy: a sense of well being and contentment. Other sources say that joy comes more from within and has a spiritual connection, while happiness is usually triggered by external situations and events. Happiness is a celebration. It is an emotion that causes jubilation, elation, and glee and is noticeable by others because of facial expressions and body language.  Whereas joy is more calm, serene, and sacred.  It is true that joy is one of the fruit of the spirit noted in the Bible along with gentleness, kindness, and goodness. Also, in the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, he asks, "where there is sadness, let me sow joy." Other words used in reference to joy are: joyful, joyfulness, joyousness, overjoyed, and rejoice. Joy and happiness are positive stimuli and emotions of feeling good and that all is well.  An emotional sensation is created by someone, or something, causing a state of mind that one seeks to achieve because the feelings created are so pleasurable. A quote of Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book Simple Abundance is, "With patience, beauty blossoms and our hearts experience not only  happiness, which is often fleeting, but a wellsprings of joy that refreshes and renews." Happiness is having a childlike sense of curiosity, wonder, enthusiasm, and delight. Joy is more private and rooted deeply in our hearts and souls.  The goal is to be aware of what it is that truly makes us happy and learn to savor small, authentic moments that bring us simple pleasures. Today we can know that we are worthy and deserving of happiness and joy. We are meant to enjoy life along with our trials and tribulations, our pain and our sorrow. So, look for the joy. Avail yourselves of each moment's opportunity to embrace and experience the joy and serenity that are uniquely yours. Louis Bogan, who has been called by some the most accomplished American woman poet of the twentieth century, writes: "I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering, surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy."