The Secret of True Joy
The secret of true joy is that it’s not actually tethered to outside circumstances. It has little to do with what’s going on around you. In fact, true joy is a well that you can fill with your internal perspective, thoughts, and attitude, and you can draw from that well to fill you up, especially in times like these.
Recently a student who heard I was working on a presentation on happiness shared the following with me. It’s from a post that’s been circulating around the internet for awhile.
Meet Mrs. Jones, who models the well of joy:
This 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home yesterday. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.
“I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…. just wait.”
“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life.”
She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still depositing.”
And with a smile, she said: “Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less, & enjoy every moment.”
Isn’t that beautiful?
I would add that when you find what you’re meant to be doing on this Earth, you’ll have no shortage of fulfillment, joy, peace, resiliency, love, and everything else your heart desires.
Remember that true happiness and abundance is what you feel in your soul, and what you create with your mind, your heart, and every molecule of your being.
If you want more happiness in your life, the answer is to identify your unique gifts (the things you’re good at that make you FEEL good), to stay connected to Source, and to focus on service. With this knowledge imprinted in your heart, there’s no limit to what the universe can provide for you and for all the things that matter.
If you’re attracted to this kind of insight, I hope you’ll join me right here for my talk this coming Sunday on How to Be Insanely Happy — and invite your family, friends, coworkers, and community to join you!