Listen to “Life is Meant to Be Enjoyed, Not Endured”.
Joy is our elated response to feelings of happiness, experiences of pleasure, and awareness of abundance. Joy is a vital sign of proper spiritual work. If you are full of joy, then it means you have already fulfilled one of the conditions for finding the right path. Joy is a good indicator of spiritual health and well-being. When you are not doing well spiritually, joy is the first thing to disappear from your life.
Daily experiences of awe, curiosity, gratitude, joy, and love can put you on a trajectory of growth, success, and positive social connection and prevent those suffering from falling into a downward spiral.
The Sanskrit word for bliss is Ananda, meaning the highest place of inner happiness. Ananda exists in abundance but cannot be accessed easily. Spirituality teaches us things that we must practice and inculcate to modify our existence, from mundane to divine life.
In divine life, while much remains unchanged, e.g. the world, people and chores, there is ananda. It is a spring that comes from within, not outside. Ananda is only possible when we go beyond the mind. The very nature of the mind is turbulence and sorrow. Thought never brings us happiness, though it may pursue it. Only thought-free awareness can do that.
Everything that leads to unity and filling with light in itself causes joy. True Ananda dwells within us if we can let go of external attachments and return to the core of our being that is one with all.
Here are some reasons we are not experiencing joy in our lives:
Overthinking
It’s been hypothesised that overthinking causes mental health to decline, and as mental health declines, the more likely you are to overthink. It’s a vicious cycle. But, it’s hard to recognise that cycle when you’re caught in the middle of it. In fact, your brain might try to convince you that worrying and ruminating is somehow helpful. The more you think, the worse you feel.
Expectations
Overblown expectations can suck the joy out of living. High expectations cause you to focus on the future constantly instead of living in the moment. As a result, you enjoy the present less and have little appreciation for your life. That is, acknowledging life as it is right now. This involves dropping our resistance because we often want things to be different, rather than recognising, accepting, and allowing everything to exist — regardless of what life throws our way.
Negative thoughts
Negative thoughts can go round your head for hours, days and even weeks. Learning to stop the constant barrage of negative thoughts is vital for a happy and fulfilling life.
Negative thoughts can make you feel sad and anxious. They take the joy out of life, and they can take a toll on your physical health. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to deal with them. One way to deal with negative thoughts is to replace them with thoughts that make you feel better. You can try Positive Affirmations for Negative Thoughts Elimination in the DeepH meditation section.
Not getting enough rest
You lose your joy when you neglect to rest, and it’s hard to relax. There’s always so much to do! Rest is inconvenient, time-consuming, unproductive, and not socially celebrated. Rest is counter-cultural. And rest is essential for health and well-being. You don’t just need enough sleep; you also need awake rest time. You need time to think, time to chat, time to wander, to daydream and to observe.
