What is joy?

Joy = A condition of great happiness. The purpose of life is for all people to have joy.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. Buddha

Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. Mother Teresa

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. Greg Anderson

And your joy no man taketh from you. John 16:22

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. Albert Einstein

Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain. Joseph Campbell

The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. Christopher McCandless

Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods. Plato

It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it. Amelia Barr

Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true fulfillment. Tony Robbins

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith … Galatians 5:22

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. Karl Barth

All around us is the cosmic game, the cosmic play. The universe is full of joy, inner and outer. When realisation takes place, we have to feel the necessity of manifesting this constant delight in our heart. The delight glows, but does not burn. It has tremendous intensity, but it is all softness and absolutely sweet-flowing nectar. Sri Chinmoy

I believe enlightenment or revelation comes in daily life. I look for joy, the peace of action. You need action. I’d have stopped writing years ago if it were for the money. Paulo Coelho

The soul’s joy lies in doing. Percy Bysshe Shelley

To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out. Roger Ebert

Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy as they are also the marks of great art. They seem to be the purpose of God for his whole creation. Richard Holloway

The single overriding objective in wellness is creating constant personal renewal where we recognize and act on the truth that each day is a miraculous gift, and our job is to untie the ribbons. That’s the Law of Esprit: living life with joy. Greg Anderson

Joy acts like a trampoline, everything that touches it bouncing right back off it. Mariella Frostrup

The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world. Ann Voskamp

Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give. Eleanor Roosevelt

Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them. Thomas Kinkade

When meeting difficult situations, one should dash forward bravely and with joy. Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Joy is the serious business of Heaven. C. S. Lewis

Laughter and joy are part of the beauty of life. Diogo Morgado

There are seasons in life. Don’t ever let anyone try to deny you the joy of one season because they believe you should stay in another season… Listen to yourself. Trust your instincts. Keep your perspective. Jane Clayson

We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living. Thich Nhat Hanh

With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things. William Wordsworth

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference. Audre Lorde

Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it. Chuck Palahniuk

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. John 15:11

If you really want to receive joy and happiness, then serve others with all your heart. Lift their burden, and your own burden will be lighter. Ezra Taft Benson

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. Rabindranath Tagore

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. Leonardo da Vinci

If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment. Carlos Santana

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. Emily Dickinson

Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree. What the general reader or the critic makes of them is not my concern. Henry Miller

When the faith is strong enough, it is sufficient just to be. It’s a journey towards simplicity, towards quietness, towards a kind of joy that is not in time. It’s a journey that has taken us from primary identification with our body and our psyche, on to an identification with God, and ultimately beyond identification. Ram Dass

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties. Helen Keller

Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures. Thomas Aquinas

Joy can only be real if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. Leo Tolstoy

Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity. Oscar Wilde

The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy. Henry Ward Beecher

Happiness is the legal-tender of the soul. Joy is wealth. Robert Green Ingersoll

Joy is our purpose. Joy is our divine nature. Joy is our truest essence of being. Joy IS the energy that we are made of. That is why when we feel joyful, it feels SO amazingly good … it is you connecting to the flow of truth … it is you connecting to your true nature … that feeling of joy is your truest more pure form of being. It is harmony with your soul.

In joy we expand and grow. To say “follow the joy” is to understand WHO you are, WHY you’re here, and WHAT you should do because you know that truth.

Who are you? You’re a being of light and joy.

Why are you here? To BE joyful!

What should you do because you know that? Spread joy. Feel joy. Know joy. Follow the joy.

This is your purpose of being. This is your role. This is the reason you exist. Experience YOUR spot, who you are as an individual, IN JOY! The truth sets you free when you own it and act upon it … it is JOYFUL existence and it EXPANDS your heart and your joy continues to grow. When joy is the predominant vibration within you, your are in flow with God, the Universe, the Source of your being, the energy that is all things … and the inspiration comes, and the joy continues to flow and life is beautiful.

The joy within you is unique to you! If it’s joy, it’s YOUR connection to truth, to God, and to the flow of the universe.  So follow your joy. Own your joy. Embrace your joy. Share your joy and watch as your life takes on a beautiful luster and brilliance that makes being YOU magnificently wholly joyful. Joy limitlessly expands and WILL continue on eternally as you focus on it. Choose the joy!

honorthismoment.