One can be happy and joyful; however, these are not the same. Happiness is expressed at a particular moment, usually when we have good news, have a good time, we obtain or accomplish something we want, or experience a moment that is pleasant and produces the feeling. Joy remains in us, whether things are going our way or not so much. Joy is a state of the heart, mind, and soul. It is inside and reflects on the outside. Happiness is determined by outside occurrences and how we process them and react.

I know a person who has been blessed in many ways; however, this person is always sad, bored, complains about everything and everyone, and says, “I have never been happy.” Even when there is nothing wrong going on in the life of this person, even when people try hard to please and care, the reaction is always the same, sadness and misery. It is very hard to relate to this person because no matter what you say to uplift, counsel, or celebrate, this person always finds a negative word to counteract. This person brings back any particular experience in the past that was negative or painful, even when it may have happened decades ago. At present, this person is experiencing many blessings and surrounded by people who care, and the only thing this person has to do is enjoy the blessings and the people around these blessings, but this is not how this person sees life, on the contrary, this person lives in a continuous state of misery, and in the process, affects the mental and emotional being of others. I truly have never met anyone else like this.

I relate the above story to illustrate that joy does not depend on circumstances such as monetary blessings, health, stability, or any other external factors. This person has all that at the present but cannot experience joy. Yes, as humans, we are fragile and we have moments of sadness and experience painful circumstances in life, sometimes, unbearable. We go through the emotions and feelings that are associated with a particular painful experience, sadness, desperation, anger, brokenness… and we grieve; however, it too shall pass. When we have joy in our life, we know this well, and we recognize our struggles, but also know that we can experience inner peace in the midst of a storm. In my opinion, the best peace is the peace and assurance that I experience through Jesus Christ. It feels like I am not alone to bear it all. This has been my experience in hard times.

One can be momentarily happy, but Joy lives inside a person and it does not depend on happy moments. Life, a gift from God, offers us an array of experiences that we must go through as part of our journey. One can fight it all the way and be miserable an entire existence, like the person I mentioned above, or one can embrace the journey with everything it brings, and find balance, peace, and harmony through letting joy in. May you open your life to receive joy.