“Joy is the happiness that is not dependent on what happens.”
– David Steindl-Rast
We seek happiness as if it is lost. We try to find it in our jobs, the things we buy, what we own, or even people. When we are not careful, our happiness becomes dependent on material objects or the presence of others.
Our movie collections can get smashed or stolen. Our personal libraries brimming with books can catch fire or get washed away in a flood. That cars we love so much can get totaled in a matter of seconds. Our employers determine that it is time to downsize and do away with our positions. Are we still happy?
Our ability to live a life of happiness and contentment can be found within us. To borrow from a passage of scripture if everything were to be taken we should be content no matter the circumstance.
Joy can be experienced regardless of what happens in life.
Consider this, we are living in a universe on an insignificant planet floating through space at 67,000 miles an hour. We are incredibly complex individuals with a nervous system that beats a heart, grows hair and has gems for eyes.
Life is far too wonderful to let happiness be dependent on material objects or others. Because sometimes even those closest to us, those who make us incredibly happy, would not be present if circumstances in our lives changed. We can learn to be content and live knowing we are fine by just being who we are, even when we are without.
Thomas Fletcher 