GRATITUDE - THE KEY TO JOY

"A joyful life is an individual creation 

that cannot be copied from a recipe."  

--- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi  Hungarian psychology professor)

That's a tongue-twister of a name but never mind because what he said about joy speaks with such beautiful clarity.

There's no one formula which works for everybody in experiencing joy. It's as diverse as the colors of the rainbow. Someone's joy may not be my idea of one ... or I may be looking at the same thing but not seeing what he may be seeing or am miles away from sharing the same thoughts. That too works the other way around as he may perhaps not understand my own sweet  joy over a simple thing as sitting on the floor with my dog Maxie on a nothing-to-do day.

Joy, as I have learned, is not as elusive as we most often mistakenly think it is. It does not have to depend on the external triggers or manifestations emitted by things events and people. Oh it may to some degree but it doesn't have to be that all the time.

We have to learn to find joy. We can create that experience. Joy, in fact, is already there in our day just waiting to be released.... discovered.... enjoyed and savored. It's put there by an All-Knowing God as a soothing balm to ease our muddled and bewildered lives.

BUT we must learn how to bring it out .... to breathe life into it. How?

It's simple. GRATITUDE, as I have learned through the years, is the key which unlocks the door or doors to joy.

Blessings, everyone. May your day and your weekend be filled to the rafters and out and beyond with boundless joy. Boundless joy, by God's design just for you.

(Thanks to Mr. Quote Man for the quote.)