joy to the world

Laurie and I had an atypical courtship. We spent a great deal of time together, but little of it was in the form of what people commonly would think of as dating. Nevertheless, over a period of months as our relationship grew it became apparent that there was definitely a spark between us that we didn’t experience with anyone else. Yet there were obstacles to our relationship that at times seemed difficult to get past. There were ups and downs that continued until we hit what seemed to be a dead end. We concluded that it was time to admit we had nowhere to go so we needed to part and go our separate ways. We agreed to do that…and the next day agreed to marry each other! What a great day that was. What a great feeling that was. We both knew immediately that it was what we wanted more than anything else in the world. We experienced so much joy! To this day I would have to say it was one of the most joyous days of my life.

Joy. The dictionary defines it as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or satisfying; keen pleasure.” I’ve been thinking about what keeps us from experiencing joy in life, but that begs the question, “what enables us to experience joy?” I’ve looked at the negative side of the equation, but what’s the positive? How can we have more joy in our lives? Most of us wish we had more joy, so is there some way to make that happen?