All The Joy You Need

[poundsasson]

ALL THE JOY YOU NEED

Thomas Aquinas once said, "No one can live without joy." But many
people try. And the reason is often simply because they don't
know how to be happy! They are so intent on the three Ps --
power, prosperity and prestige -- that they miss out on joy.

Try to imagine this picture. It is a photograph taken by Henri
Cartier-Bresson, who pioneered modern photography as an art form
during the early decades of the 20th Century. He became known for
his photographs of apparent contradictions: pictures that left
mysteries unexplained.

One of his famous photographs was shot in a poor section of Spain
in the 1930s. The picture depicts a run-down alley surrounded by
decaying walls, strewn with rubble randomly stacked in thick
piles lying on the street, and riddled with bullet holes dotting
gray walls. The setting alone evokes feelings of sadness and
despair.

But then...the contradiction. Within the grim alley children are
playing. They wear dirty and tattered clothes, as one might
expect in such a setting, but like playing children everywhere,
they laugh with carefree joy. In the foreground, a tiny boy on
crutches hobbles away from two other boys, his face lit up with a
broad grin. One boy is laughing so hard he has to hold his side.
Others lean on the cracked walls, beaming with delight.

It is easy to spot the contrast -- and the point. Joy amidst the
rubble of life. Laughter amongst its ruins.

We cannot avoid pain, however hard we try. But we can avoid joy.
We cannot escape hardship and trouble, but we can miss out on
much of life's peace and laughter.

If you feel as if you could use more joy, try this:

Spend time daily doing something you enjoy.
Do those things that bring inner peace.
Learn to laugh heartily and frequently.
Cultivate within yourself an attitude of hope.
Fill each day with as much love as it can possibly hold.

You'll still have plenty of problems, but through it all, you'll
find all you joy you will ever need.

� 2001 Steve Goodier

 

[Mai Harinder Kaur]

This reminds me of an old Zen saying, 'There is nothing left to you at this moment, but to have a good laugh.:rofl!!:

I have seen a lot of pain and suffering in my life. The thing, more than anything else that has kept me sane - assuming, of course, that I AM sane - is my sense of humour.

I believe in catching all the joy you can find with both arms and throwing it all over the place. Another old saying, 'What goes around, comes around.'