Joy vs. Happiness; not everyone understands the difference!
We mostly search for happiness; happiness in the good company of people, happiness in finding a good restaurant to eat at, and happiness in spending a good vacation. The thing is, most people do not know that there is a difference between happiness and joy.
Happiness is temporary, but joy is a state that comes from within, reflecting happiness on one’s mind, soul, and body. This is what we aim to teach kids during the first week of our Summer Day Camps this year, to pursue happiness but choose joy! The truth is happiness often depends on our emotions and circumstances. But joy is something deeper, something we can access regardless of our situation.
What is Joy?!
It is an overflowing sense of extreme happiness and pleasure; that's joy! It's not just a fleeting emotion - it's a lasting feeling of inner peace and contentment that you can experience when you are selfless and care for others, express gratefulness, or have uplifting spiritual experiences. Even if it requires great personal sacrifice, the joy you get from helping others reach their own levels of contentment will be well worth it.
Some differences between Happiness and Joy:
- Joy is Constant. Happiness is temporary
Being joyous is an ongoing state that comes from within, but happiness is a feeling that you experience because of a specific situation and is temporary.
- Joy reflects on one being selfless. Happiness focuses on pleasing oneself.
Putting others first requires being selfless, and to do this with absolute contentment, it has to happen because one feels joyous from helping others instead of thinking of pleasing oneself.
- A person chooses to have joy but chases happiness.
Because happiness is temporary, people chase after it, but being joyous is a choice that one chooses to make.
Joy is difficult to define in words, while one can easily describe happiness.
The joy that life offers us is a gift that can be hard to put into words. It has the power to move our hearts and souls and make us feel alive in ways we never knew existed. It can be hard to understand its true beauty unless we have had the privilege of experiencing it firsthand. Yet, happy moments are easier to describe, as they are more common, and many of us have come across them at least once in our lifetime. The joy that life brings us is a blessing that can give us strength and joy and remind us of what truly matters in life.
Enroll your kids now in our first week of Summer Day Camps, taking place from 2-6 July, to help them learn more about how to choose joy!