Life Lessons in Joy

Life lessons can be learned from a state of joy instead of hardship and suffering. There's no need to suffer in order to grow. While contrasting emotions such as happy vs. sad are dependent on outer circumstances, a state of being such as joy is something that comes from within. Joy does not depend on a perspective of opposites to be what it is. Joy Has No Opposite. Love is similar. Life lessons learned by newborn babies are not necessarily dependent on their previous experiences. A baby can recognize love even though she has not experienced hatred.

I recently read an article about a surfer who was attacked by a great white shark and severely injured. He was very clear that he felt something like a state of joyful oneness in that very moment. He was completely present in that moment of physical pain. Yet if joy needed an opposite to experience it, then it couldn't be felt at the same time as some tragic event was happening. If it took an opposite to recognize it, only those with awful lives would have the chance to know it - see-sawing between the two extremes. And yet everyone has opportunities to experience joy - no matter what their life lessons appear like on the surface.

Life Lessons from Pain

Suffering is relative to the one who experiences it and mostly exists within the mind of the sufferer i.e. physical pain is merely sensory input that makes it all the way to one's brain. There are numerous accounts of Yogis or others who practice mental mastery who can endure with minimal effect what most people would feel as intense pain.

When my kids were younger and would get hurt, I would sometimes distract them by getting them to think of something else. The pain would often disappear. Later I would ask them where the pain went when they stopped thinking about it.

Emotional pain is also subjective. It is compiled from a myriad of similar circumstances that have triggered that same emotion before. In other words, what one person experiences from a set of circumstances isn't necessarily the same experience as another. I would guess that actress Liz Taylor didn't feel as much emotional pain from her divorces as someone who was unwillingly divorced. A shark attack can bring joyful oneness for one person, but fear and pain for another. Joy is a state of being, not a reaction to a sensation or experience.

Joyful Self Improvement

Suffering, struggle and hardship often generate life lessons and self improvement for us but it doesn't have to be that way. A state of joy is equally capable of stimulating growth and life lessons. Once you are in a joyous state, there is a realization that all is well AND that there is infinite space for continued expansion into new or different states of joy. In other words, there are an infinite number of nuances to joy that can be experienced. Who wouldn't want to discover as many experiences of joy as possible? Self growth and personal development can happen simply because you are, metaphorically, in one beautiful green field and there is a beautiful forest beckoning to be explored that you noticed only when you arrived in the field. You get two joyful experiences (of field and forest) instead of just one joyful experience. Life calls to life and joy calls to joy. It's the basic idea behind the law of attraction - like attracts like. You get to choose how to grow.

Life Lessons in Inspiration

Inspiration also produces growth and movement in life. Joy is the spark of inspiration, and inspiration is the source of creativity. Joy stimulates creativity and growth because joy is like a fountain of fresh perspectives continually being renewed in every moment. Creativity thrives in state of being that is in continuous renewal. Creativity flourishes when it has a stream of new ideas to choose from and be inspired by. It's strange how many of us associate life lessons with hardship. Think of the things in school that you most easily learned. You learned them easily because you were inspired and interested.

The life lessons you learn most easily are the lessons you learn to love.

Joy is a sublime mix of love, appreciation, inner peace and contentment. To an artist, inspiration comes when she first notices something. It might be the way the light plays off a grove of trees. It might be the crisply curling shape of a leaf on the ground. To really notice something is to appreciate it. When you experience the peace or contentment in joy, you are accepting "what is" in that moment. When you accept what is, you will have a greater ability to recognize a potential solution when it comes. By contrast, if you are resisting what is, you will be focused on the lack of a solution and the presence of some problem.

Self Growth is Optional

In the state of pure joy, self growth almost seems unnecessary because you already feel so good. But it is your natural desire to expand to your greatest potential. Some life lessons along your personal development journey can feel so urgent because the incentive for growth comes from an external circumstance. For example, "If I don't change my diet and exercise habits, I'll very likely have a heart attack." Or, "If I can't start making more money, I won't be able to pay my rent next month." When in joy, one sees that growth doesn't have the same urgency or critical feel to it. Just being right here, right now is enough - and yet joy continually opens one up to the option of more wonderful, joyful experiences in each moment. In the moment, no self improvement seems critically urgent - but it promises to be equally delicious. In a state of joy, the would be heart attack victim instead notices the beauty of the day and is inspired to get out for a walk to enjoy it more - which could eventually evolve into a habit of walking.

Love is what makes joy feel full and complete. It's your greatest and most natural state of being you were always meant for. It would be difficult to be in a state of joy without love (and vice versa) since the two are so intertwined. Joy is experienced when you feel in sync with spirit, mind and body. Joy is experienced when you are living out your true life purpose - that of sharing and spreading the joy and love within you.