Happiness vs. Joy - The Temporary vs. The Eternal

Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a state of being.

Pursuit of Happiness. Great song. The Pursuit of Happyness. Great movie.

The Pursuit of Happiness. Never understood that one.

Unlike the pursuit of perfection, the pursuit of happiness is very much obtainable. It is not some fantasy that we have to find ourselves indulging in. It’s a reality that we have found ourselves a part of over and over again.

Some of us may have to go back farther than others to recall what it felt like to be happy. But we’ve all felt it. That’s the thing isn’t it?

We’ve felt it.

But it’s only temporary.

Word Choice is Important

It is really easy for us to say “I like it” and “I love it” interchangeably. But all it takes is swapping out one four letter word starting with an L of another to give a sentence completely different meaning.

The same goes with happiness and joy.

When you are young, you get taught emotions through facial expressions and body language. We can physically see sadness, anger, confusion, and in the case of this piece, happiness.

Happiness is the go to word to describe our best moments. It’s our go to word because it is a word that is universally understood. If you want to convey to someone a positive feeling, you tell them you are happy.

But now, what if I challenged you? What if I asked you

How Do You Define Joy

You may be thinking, that’s so easy, joy is when you are REALLYYYYY happy. Like so happy you just can’t contain yourself.

Sounds kind of familiar, right? If you asked a young child what does it mean to love something or someone, they may reply with love is when you REALLLLLYYYYYY like something or someone.

Being a bit older, we know that love is a bit beyond that, and so is joy.

So, What Is The Key Difference?

Happiness is indeed obtainable. It can be the pursuit of a lifetime. But to achieve happiness, we need to have an external force working in our favor.

We don’t choose to be happy. Happiness is a result of an external condition acting upon us.

Joy on the other hand is a choice.

Happiness does not directly lead to joy. Joy is something far greater.

When someone tells you that it is your choice to be happy, what they really mean is it is your choice to find joy in this world or not. Joy is a state of mind and a state of being that once it is found, it cannot be taken away from you.

If you read that last sentence and you say to yourself that is a lie, I’m sorry in my opinion that means to me that you haven’t truly found joy yet.

Happiness will come and go with the wind. Joy will be there with you til the end of time. Happiness will latch on to your mind but joy will latch onto your soul.

Big difference.

So, How Do I Find This Joy?

Well, that’s exactly why we are all here. Far too many people who enter into adulthood have given up on the pursuit of joy, let alone happiness, before life has even started.

I am blessed to have found joy. I have found it through my relationship with Christ. Now that I have that joy, I of course want to tell everybody the joy that comes from walking with Christ.

But of course, I know that this message will not be received by all. That’s why I formed the podcast and now this newsletter.

There are plenty of avenues to find joy throughout this world. If there is joy to be found through someone’s experiences, we are going to find it.

But in order to accomplish this goal, I need you to promise me one thing.

Don’t Give Up

This journey can’t be completed in a day. You can choose to view that as terrifying or discouraging, but to me it’s beautiful. To me that means we will navigate down so many different avenues we have never thought to go before.

That is the real adventure of life, and it would be a shame if we missed it.