Happiness vs. Joy

Welcome (back) to my blog dear reader! I am so glad you are here. 😄 I hope you enjoy your time here.

Happy Easter! Yes, it's still Easter. 😄 And with the Easter season comes one of my favorite things ever: Easter Joy. The intense feeling of Joy that comes from knowing that Jesus died and rose again to save us. Now, there is a distinct difference between happiness and joy. That difference and how it has affected my life is what I would like to talk about this week.

First of all, what is the definition of happiness? According to the dictionary, being happy means feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church happiness is described as “of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it.” So this means God gave us the desire to want to be happy. And that is a good thing. Even though we can achieve it temporarily through a variety of means, He is the only one who can truly give us lasting happiness.

Secondly, what is the definition of joy? According to the dictionary, joy means a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. As a Catholic, it means more though. Joy is a virtue. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church joy is defined as one of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. “Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good...The moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts, and perseverance in struggle.” This means we have to choose to practice virtue. Joy is a choice and needs to be consistently chosen through perseverance even when it is difficult in order to feel it.

How has Joy affected my life? It has been a crucial part of my mental health. I mentioned in the post on anxiety I did a while back, I have had these issues for a while and night time is the worst for me. With this post, I am going to talk about this topic and how it relates to my personal joy a little more. Also trigger warning if talking about anxiety and its symptoms bothers you.

Am I happy? It’s a question I am sure you have heard dear reader. You may have even asked it of yourself. And today the answer is no. I am not happy. There are times I have days like today where I am not happy. Like I have said previously, the hardest days are actually late at night or when I have not gotten sufficient sleep. My anxiety is usually the cause of those troubles and lack of sleep. Those nights hurt more than others. My mind becomes stormy and cruel and I listen to that negative voice in my head for too long. And those are the longest nights, commonly accompanied by tears.

Phew, that got heavy and real for a bit. I might not feel happy right at this moment, like that example of happiness I mentioned before, but I am okay. I can choose to feel Joy. Using and practicing the virtue of Joy has helped me immensely in my life, especially in my young adulthood.

For those of my friend and family, you may be one of them dear reader, the people who know me well, they know I am a pretty positive person and I love to share that positivity. I had to want it for myself though. I fell preeetttyy far in my early 20s and had to fight to get where I am now. This place where long nights are not as common and I try to daily personify a ray of sunshine. So, how did I do it?

It took a lot of metal practice. I had to talk to myself a lot. Not in a crazy way, but in a getting to know my mind way. I had to advocate for myself to myself. Part of this advocacy was through prayer. During my prayer time I would ask and sometimes beg Jesus to give me the strength that I needed to be able to choose Joy. Prayers to the saints I am named after and my other patron saints were also hugely helpful. (I might do a whole post on patron saints. Let me know if you would like to see one!) Through all of the mental practice and prayer, I was able to start refocusing my mind. I was able to concentrate less on the lies in my head and more on Jesus and what is truly important and valuable in my life.

And that brings me back to where I am today. I might not feel happy in the way that the dictionary defines it, but I do feel joyful and positive in my soul. That is one of the things I love about this blog. The title is the theme I have chosen for my life. Every day has beauty in it, no matter how crazy life gets. I have decided to find that beauty and hold on to it. It could be something as simple as a moment in contemplative quiet, time spent with people I care about, time in nature or playing with my dog. It’s there. You just have to look for it. I hope this post helped you dear reader. I wish you a wonderful week and may you always find beauty in the crazy.☀️💙