Joys of Life

A woman in a bad marriage said her happiness and joy came from a sense of inner peace which she achieved through meditation and faith. Then, she divorced and remarried, and her joy came from love and sex. Then, she contracted cancer and overcame it, and she said her joy came from living and health. Then, she had a recurrence and on her death bed, she said her joy came from having lived a full life, complete with challenges and victories.

We find joy where we can because we chose it. In the heartbreak of a breaking marriage, I know someone who heard beautiful classical music on the radio and it helped her realize that if she could appreciate beauty, she could feel peace and joy, again. I always remember that it the darkest times of my life, I still found joy in tiny, little things, like my socks matching my shirt. The sources of joy are endless, from the delicious taste of a ripe peach, to the kind smile of a familiar person, to the knowledge that something went right in the world. It behooves us to pay attention to the synchonicity of events which align themselves our way, to the artistry of the world and to good where it exists. It's too easy to ignore these true joys of life and let worries swallow us up instead. That would be wasteful of time and life, which is, indeed, all we really ever have.