HAPPINESS vs. JOY

Can you define happiness for you? What does it mean? What would it look like if you were “happy?” Next, how might joy be different? How do you define joy? What does it take for us to experience true joy? Joy is the sense that lives within us that is not determined by circumstances. It is not contingent upon how our career may or may not be progressing, our current relationship status, nor how many followers our social media profiles contain. Joy can be found in serving others, in giving, even in sacrifice. Such characteristics are what distinguish joy from happiness. Happiness, conversely, is directly dependent upon what is or is not happening around us.  More pointedly, what goes on around us sets the course for what goes on within us. Happiness is commonly linked to well-being. If things are going well in life then we are happy. Where joy is constant, happiness is temporary. Of course this means that if we can become happy very easily, then we can also lose happiness just as easily. If something goes wrong, or something breaks or does not go your way, there goes your happiness. Often, we abandon joy in order to pursue the fleeting high of happiness. Happiness feels good, joy is significant. Buying new clothes feels good, but the sensation does not remain. Helping a child in need, spending time with family, taking the steps toward changing the course of your life — produce wells of joy that we can draw from in the future. Happiness is much easier to obtain than joy. This is because joy is oftentimes the product of perseverance through hardship and difficulty. Standing at the college graduation of a son or daughter for whom you have sacrificed to put through school—loans, refinancing your home, taking extra shifts at work, encouraging them when they felt like quitting—brings with it a level of joy that the happiness of having new shoes could never match. It is important to note here that being happy is not a bad thing. There are many things over the course of a day that will make us happy or take away our happiness, it is only when we rely on that happiness to fulfill us that we find ourselves in trouble.

Joy can also be seen as the byproduct of a moral lifestyle. Whereas happiness can come from both moral and immoral acts. Joy is both the thermostat and thermometer of the soul. Joy can set the temperature for our lives and it also reflects to us the temperature of our lives. For instance, does the idea of sacrificing your time or money for the betterment of someone else make you pause? Would abandoning your calendar to aid someone in serious need make you feel better or worse? When you know the satisfaction of a life well-lived, you know joy. In the rush to success in our contemporary culture, many choose to take the express elevator called happiness. Joy extends the invitation to take the stairs and enjoy every step of the journey. 

Our own Dr. Erica Holmes provides us with seven keys to experiencing joy in our lives.

7 KEYS TO OPEN THE DOOR TO JOY

— Live with a Sense of Purpose

— Be Optimistic

— Devote Time to Family and Friends

— Show Appreciation

— Be in the Moment

— Practice Self-Compassion

— Remember that the Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

Bonus: Don’t Take Yourself So Seriously