Life Forces - Chapter 2 - Joy

  Whenever I think of Joy, I think of children's faces, and happy puppies.  As we get older, we seem to lose some of that magic, but that is okay because when we do have Joy it just makes it even more special.  As I mentioned in a previous entry, Joy is linked to Love for obvious reasons.  The tertiary emotions that are associated with Joy are Cheerfulness, Zest, Contentment, Pride, Optimism, Enthralment, and Relief.  I think of Joy as that occasional dose of medicine that we all need once in awhile.  It can be a reoccurring event like Christmas or a random event like seeing a loved one after a long absence.  If we don't have these occasional moments of being 'up', we would fall into an opposite basic emotion which is Sadness.  It is fascinating to me how our state of mind can directly affect our physical health.  It has been medically proven that depression diminishes our immune system and we are at greater risk of becoming sick.

  There are many things that can enhance and motivate the experience of Joy;  Being with family or being in love, fair weather and sunshine, being financially secure, being self-confident or good at what you do, being free of guilt or sin, having personal freedoms and living in a free land, the list can go on.  Of course the opposite scenarios would bring on the opposite emotion of Sadness.
  Joy is something we all want and are all entitled to so feel free to receive it and feel free to share it!

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. - Buddha