JOY

I am feeling extra grateful this morning after returning from a full weekend in my beloved Beaufort for WEEKEND FIVE of my yoga teacher training program.  I can not believe I have only three weekends to go!  We talked a lot about shifting our vision to JOY in our lives, especially in those circumstances we can't control or that come unexpectedly.  We generate experiences; why not generate a great one?

I love Danielle Laporte's essay on the difference between Happiness and Joy.  I plan to read this on Thursday in the mid-day power class I am teaching.  Here's an excerpt of what she says...

Happiness is like rising bubbles — delightful and inevitably fleeting. Joy is the oxygen — ever present.

Happiness is always passing through. It can claim your full attention for the ten seconds it takes to swallow a sip of incredible coffee. Or it can stream through your being for weeks on end. 

Joy is the fibre of your Soul. It’s the stuff of your essence. And since you, your Soul, can never be annihilated, your access to joy never vanishes. Because joy is so foundational to your true being, every other state or emotion can rest on top of joy, it can accommodate everything.

This means that it’s possible to grieve with your whole heart, and still sense your joy. You can feel rage, and be aware of joy waiting patiently for you to return, and take deep comfort in that. You can get fired, dumped, dumped on, and pulled through the eye of a needle, and still feel held by the container of joy — the truth of your existence.

It has never failed that when I have been through the most heart-breaking passages of my life — betrayal, financial hardship, divorce, dreams dashed — the pain brought me to the floor of my being, and what was there to be found?

The simple joy of being alive. So cosmically basic it’s mind-blowing: the joy to be here, connected, animated, breathing, blessed, resilient, to be broken, to be open, to have what was, what’s left, what’s coming. The joy just to be part of reality.

Happiness. Love it when it comes.

Joy. It’s the love that lasts no matter what.

While I was laughing with my yogi friends, learning about the anatomy of different postures, and enjoying Beaufort, my little boy was having a blast swimming with his Gaga and playing Putt-Putt with his daddy.

Papa was enjoying himself on a fishing trip in the gulf with his buds.

Me....I soaked up as much salty air as I could and came home inspired and thankful.

Thank you, Beaufort, for always finding a way to bring out the best in me.  I've said it before...it's the magic of the Lowcountry.