I believe there is a fine difference between experiencing joy and happiness.Happiness comes from outside, an external sources.
It may engage thinking, using our brains. An external force or event creates the emotion of happiness for us.
To experience happiness you can do something fun, see a funny movie, read a good book, hear an hysterical joke, be creative, laugh, learn something on your interest list.
Completing the “red menace” jigsaw puzzle.
Some happiness comes from material things – the feeling when receiving an incredible gift, buying a new car or house, completing a project, finding the love of your life.
We know when we feel happy. We smile, we laugh, we generally just feel good. I often think that I experience happiness
in my head. Not only because it involves my mouth when laughing but also because my thoughts are happy.
Joy is a more personal step than happiness. Joy comes from within. It connect to the heart. It is more a feeling, a state of being,
a sense of satisfaction and well being. You feel it in your mind, body and soul.
To experience joy you can live more in the moment, live with a peaceful heart, feel gratitude, appreciate the good in life, let go of the bad, be mindful, stop and smell the roses.
Russian River Peace
To attain happiness you do, to achieve joy you be.
Joy is to experience happiness like you really mean it.
This may seem like a fine distinction but joy is usually experienced on a deeper level. It can consume more of our senses.
There is a place for both in our lives. They each provide us with a different result. This month the focus is on bringing both more
joy and happiness into our daily lives.
To get started, each day in your journal record a joyful or happy experience.
