March 7, Thursday ~ Giving Up the Pursuit of Happiness

DAY 20: Giving Up the Pursuit of Happiness

Today is the day we give up pursuing happiness. I have been waiting for this day. This is my favorite day in this Lenten series. I can say with certainty that, “I got this one!!” I am lousy at pursuing happiness and always seem to have been that way, so there is no problem for me to give this up.

Ressler writes a lot about the difference between happiness and joy. It is such an important distinction, and I want to add to it. Psychology Today discusses happiness as an emotion “associated with physiological responses, or body reactions, such as smiling for happiness and crying for sadness.” Conversely, joy is a feeling, and “Feelings… involve cognitive appraisal or an internal thought process.” 

So, what we need to pursue is joy, not happiness. One of the best books I have ever read about joy is “The Book of Joy.” It is a conversation around joy between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu facilitated by Douglas Abrams. I can’t begin to summarize all that the book entails, but I would like to list a few of its topics so you can get a feel for the depth of its content.

The book chapters are entitled The Nature of True Joy, The Obstacles to Joy, and Eight Pillars of Joy. The obstacles to joy were grouped into eight categories: fear, stress, and anxiety; frustration and anger; sadness and grief; despair; loneliness; envy; suffering and adversity; illness and fear of death. The eight pillars of joy are perspective, humility, humor, acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity. Those two chapters are worth the book's cost and your time. I hope you will contemplate those obstacles and pillars and apply them to your life.

There is so much to digest on this subject. Joy is complex, long-lasting, and worth every minute you spend on it. It is deep, dense, delicious, and makes me dance. Come join me on the dance floor!!

Psalm 30:11-12:

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

At any point if you are feeling overwhelmed by this content or just want to have a further discussion about the topic, feel free to contact pastormattbridges@gmail.com or wendy@encompassthespirit.com