Join in on the Joy

I spend a lot of time wondering about things. I wonder about why I put effort into school, I wonder why the Cowboys always seem to think that this year they will get to the super bowl when they have yet to do so in the past 15+ years, and I wonder about some people too (like Travis...poor guy...).

Then there are the more important things that I wonder about. I wonder about what I should spend the rest of my life doing, how I can start doing the kind of things that I want to do for the rest of my life now, and how I can help people/have them help me along the way.

But more on that later.

I have spent about an equal time over the past six months with either really poor people who barely have anything, but have joy, or with really wealthy people, who have everything, but can't seem to enjoy it.

It seems odd, doesn't it? What we all want is to be truly happy and so we try to fill our lives with everything we can to bring us joy. But usually, it doesn't really work. Sometimes what we have can make us happy, but it's never enough. It's like it is just a taste (and a terrible taste) of what actual happiness is. But then, whenever we lose something, we are able to see that it wasn't actually doing much to make us happy.

We use our possessions, our titles, our securities to make us happy. The only problem is, when we do that, we sit stagnant behind them, unable to move or breathe or even live. What we hope will give us joy, gives us slavery (or if you'd like a less intense word--worries).

Whenever we lose these things, or whenever we don't have them to begin with, we find that we are finally able to live life. It may not be what we would consider our ideal life, but it is much better than not living at all. We are able to find joy in small things that we had previously found to be valueless.

And this brings me back to wondering. I wonder why we have this idea that things will fulfill us and make us into the fullness of who we really are. We say that our identity, who we are in essence, is based on whatever title or thing we possess, but that's just not true. Our identity comes from being who we were created to be. It is not in adding to ourselves through possession or popularity. It is just who we are that is valueable.

I think that is a lesson that everybody, especially me, can and needs to learn. We need to stop defining ourselves by what we own, what we are in, or what we can do; and instead, start seeing the beauty in everybody and everything. When we can do that, a smile on someone's face, a bright sunny day, or a simple hello will begin to create joy in us. Being joyful won't be a foreign concept that we strive for, but it will be everywhere, waiting for us to join in on the joy.