The Joy Formula

When I was a little girl, there was a song we used to sing at church. It went something like this:

Song Leader: I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Congregation: Where?
Song Leader: Down in my heart
Congregation: Where?
Song Leader: Down in my heart
Everyone: I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Down in my heart to stay!!

This silly song was so much fun to sing and so effective that after several loud repititions even the most uptight Scrooge or Grinch sitting in the church pews could not help but crack a smile. When the song was finally over, everyone was cheering and laughing . 

Troubles and cares were forgotten and replaced with good feelings. I was always amazed at how such a child-like song could help people feel better.  The act of singing caused a supernatural act of believing, which eventually changed attitudes.  Sorrow, anger, fear and other negative emotions were replaced with joy. Something changed in their spirits.

Hmmmm... Very interesting.....

Sometimes, you have to convince your spirit to be happy, despite how you actually feel.  This can be accomplished by singing, by dancing, by doing something that brings you pleasure.  You need to distract your mind from the sad or depressing thoughts that occupy it and focus on something else.

I would never dare suggest that you just need to sing a simple, silly song to miraculously cure your depressing, negative, sad emotions.  That would be awfully juvenile of me.  Our burdens, our cares, our troubles run so much deeper than that and for most people it's going to take a whole lot more than a funny chorus to find and feel joy.

On that note, I read a great article in Elephant Journal this morning about joy.

I would like to share it with you.

The Joy Formula

I hope you enJOY it as much as I did.

And this is my Daily Cyn......