Even when I’m not in a good mood, joy waits patiently for me.
What if we were to let go of the conceptual filtering of life—all the judgments, evaluations, control and ego jockeying? What would lie underneath as our natural, relaxed state of being? Boredom? I don’t think so. Depression? Certainly not.
What if joy is our natural state?
Think of the joyful spirit of children. Joy is our natural state. Who would we be if we return to joy? What would our world be?
Joy allows us to reconnect to our essential nature beyond the mind chatter and all its narrative about how this isn’t it: This moment, this job, this lover, this parent isn’t the way I’d like it/them to be. This moment isn’t important or is only a stepping stone to a future time when everything will be as “it should be”.
What if we relax and exhale deeply and let go of the mind, lifting it off like an old sweatshirt we are ready to let go of (even if it’s just for now). Lifting off that covering of mind chatter that separates us from our true nature—the internal world goes quiet; peace arises, serenity arises and joy arises.
My experience is that joy is our natural state. We get connected to an ease and flow of joy when we are not separated from life’s vital energy by the mind and its critique. (One aspect of the mind’s job, one could say, is to protect us from threats in the environment. So, it’s always on the lookout for what’s wrong–and telling us all about it!)
Knowing that we are not those thoughts is the first step. Thoughts are not reality, not telling us the truth. Haven’t we all had mental scenarios for “what’s sure to happen” and it turns out completely different? Thoughts are thoughts, just energy and language’s conceptualization passing through our awareness. We can give thoughts attention and draw them to us or we can relax and let them go.
When we relax completely and let go, we return to our natural connection with life and that produces an experience of ease, flow and quiet peace. That’s joy.
Joy is our natural state and arises when we are connected to life, when we are life. The mind separates; the being underneath the mind connects. And that connection is fundamental to our well-being, our ease and results in a deeper trust in life. Coming into joy is a sign that we are aligning with our natural state of being.
Joy is always there waiting for us. Know that with a single deeper breath and relaxing exhalation we can shift and connect in a profound and transformational way to the rich vitality of life’s expression that we are–and that’s joy!