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Difference between Joy and Happiness
105 Plays1 year ago
Did you know that joy and happiness are NOT the same thing?? It's true! And o today's episode we talk about the difference between joy and happiness, and the benefits of knowing how they differ!
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Transcript
Introduction to The Art of Intention Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Art of Intention podcast with Beth and Ayla. Two best friends turn creative entrepreneurs. This is a place for us to discuss everything business, friendships, and faith and occasionally more. We're so excited for today's episode. We think you're going to love it. Stay tuned.
00:00:21
Speaker
Hey Art of Intention family, we hope you are having the greatest Tuesday. And it feels so weird to say that after saying Monday for so long. And we'll explain that shortly. But overall, we hope it's a great day and a great week for you so far.
00:00:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's been just another stellar week over here for us. We've been cooking up so much for the show and prepping for a lot of upcoming things. And overall, like, yeah, we're full on balancing fall busy season with the show. And it's crazy, but it's fun. We've got a lot coming up for you guys.
00:00:52
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Starting with
Main Topic: Happiness vs. Joy
00:00:54
Speaker
today's topic. It's a good one. And it's something that Ayla and I have actually talked about for years. As far back as eighth grade, high school-ish, I don't really know when it started, but it's something that has remained really relevant for us throughout the years. And we're talking about the difference between happiness and joy. And I know what you're thinking, Beth, those are the same thing, girl. Don't you know?
00:01:14
Speaker
Well, we disagree and that's what we're here to talk about. Yeah, for sure. We've got thoughts on the idea of joy and how it compares to happiness, the difference between the two, some personal experiences, and of course, what the Bible has to say about it. So let's jump into that. Before we do that, in place of community news, we've got some podcast updates, so let's get into it.
00:01:35
Speaker
Okay, as you may have already noticed, we moved episodes to Tuesdays instead of Mondays in the spirit of practicing what we preach. We noticed that we both ended up working on Sundays for podcast work because we're trying to get it all out by Mondays. And we like to try to take Sundays off as much as possible, you know, just making sure we have some kind of weekend.
00:01:55
Speaker
or day off each week. So here we are. So we'll be starting your week out with you still just on Tuesday. So keep your eye out for that. It's gonna be posting on Tuesdays now.
Defining Happiness and Joy
00:02:05
Speaker
So on Instagram, you're gonna see our posts on Tuesdays and then you'll see the episodes roll out on Tuesdays. Alrighty, so like we said in the intro, today we're talking about the difference between choosing joy and choosing happiness. So I guess if you've been around, you know, oh yeah, this is it.
00:02:23
Speaker
You know I love a good definition. I love getting back to the root of what actual words mean. So, Beth, if it's okay, I looked up some definitions to kick this off. Oh, yeah. Okay, so I looked up happiness and I looked up joy. For happiness, I got two definitions. The first one was a state of well-being and contentment. And the second one was a pleasurable or satisfying experience.
00:02:47
Speaker
That was happiness. And then the definitions for joy was the emotion evoked by well-being success or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires. The next definition was a state of happiness or felicity.
00:03:03
Speaker
I really like how it says a state of happiness because what that says to me right off the bat before we even get into the meat of the episode, what I gather from these is that happiness seems to be an experience, a reaction to an event. Whereas joy, while the definitions can look very similar, joy seems to be a state of happiness.
Joy Through Hardships and Faith
00:03:22
Speaker
It's more constant. I don't know if you have any thoughts of that right off the bat.
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah, the way I had it explained to me years ago is that happiness is short term and it's in reaction to something that sparks it. It's excitement about something good that happens. While joy is long term contentment, even through hard times, it's what enables people to say it is well, even through tragedy.
00:03:48
Speaker
No, I love that. Okay. That was so cool right off the bat, actually. I actually have more to say about this, but I love the idea of contentment and saying it as well, even through tragedy. I was just talking to somebody about this the other day, that hymn, it is well, and how I think that to myself all the time, because like, do you know about the story of the rest of that hymn? Yeah.
00:04:08
Speaker
for the for the listener doesn't know I I don't know if I remember all like the the time period it was written like the full context but basically it was written by a man who lost his wife and daughter like they both died at sea or something like that yeah his name was Horatio Spafford and he and his wife set out on one ship and he and his like children set out on another ship and they were all going to the same place and what happened was something made the ship you know sink
00:04:35
Speaker
and it killed 226 people, including his four daughters on that ship. Yeah. And he and his wife received the news of that obviously horrific tragedy. I mean, I can't even imagine. And then he ended up writing that him, it is well with my soul. Well, the second part that's most important is what he says after the with my soul, but we'll get more into that later.
00:04:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So kind of with that off on a good start here.
Historical and Biblical Insights on Joy
00:05:03
Speaker
It's kind of a youth group like young adults church concept, but it still holds true. It's this idea I was like mind blown when I learned this at 14. But we were talking about joy in a youth group one day and our youth pastor talked about how joy comes from
00:05:21
Speaker
in this order when you serve Jesus, when you serve others, and then yourself. So it literally spells joy, and that's the order. When you first serve Jesus, then you carry that service to others, and then yourself, that's where you find true joy. That's the order to find true joy.
00:05:40
Speaker
This is even held up to in Jeremiah 15, 16. He says, when your words came, I ate them. They were my joy and my heart's delight. I bear your name, talking to God there. Serving Jesus alone is supposed to be the source of joy, but I like the idea that it's so outward before it comes back to yourself.
00:05:58
Speaker
And I love that. It's a long term. It's satiating. And I find that happiness is the one that comes in moments. Your birthday, a good day at the lake, a fun night out with friends. Joy is what's there through the hardship. It sustains you. Right. Yes, exactly. One of my favorite Bible verses.
00:06:16
Speaker
So hard to pick this is definitely one of my favorites, but it's James chapter 1 verse 2 to 3 He says consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know the testing of your faith produces Perseverance and I love that because it's so kind of against the rest of the world to say like trials and hardships
00:06:39
Speaker
like feel joy in that normally it'd be like oh I'm going through something hard so it's just hard and I'm sad so sometimes the idea of like I feel joyful through this can be confusing and we'll explain like why but that's kind of the first verse to like lay this yeah yeah yeah exactly like it doesn't mean it doesn't mean that you have to be smiling and happy through bad things
00:06:57
Speaker
But you can find peace inside of you, a lasting joy in knowing that it's well with your soul, no matter what happens to you on earth. Your soul is safe. You're destined for heaven. That's joy. Joy enables you to be grateful for hardships because they bring you closer to God. And like the verse says, it produces perseverance. Perseverance is a blessing.
00:07:17
Speaker
And if you go through trials, having joy is kind of like always being able to see the silver lining. You don't have to be happy with that circumstances. But if you can see the silver lining, the silver lining is, I now have more perseverance. I'm closer to God. My soul is safe. It is well with my soul. That's so good. That's so good. And I want to jump back. I know I wasn't planning to talk about this hymn so much, but one of the very first verse says,
00:07:47
Speaker
when peace, okay, I'll summarize it because it's like in older English, but he basically says like when there's peace like a river, but then also when sorrows, like sea billows
Personal Strategies for Choosing Joy
00:07:56
Speaker
roll, whatever is happening, thou's taught me to say it as well with my soul. Like, and when you think about sorrow, like sea billows, and he goes on every single verse is basically like when I'm in great mourning, still it is well with my soul. So I love that. Later on, and we'll talk more about
00:08:14
Speaker
maintaining and sustaining joy through hardships. But I also wanted to mention in Nehemiah 8.10, there is also the verse, go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks. Send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
00:08:32
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Joy, it's a deep-seated encouragement. It tells us that we can recover from whatever failings we experience. I think that, first, the context of it had something to do with people living in sin and then the redemption of that and coming back and celebrating that God has grace and God forgives us. Yeah, and that's the whole conversation in and of itself, that Christians have peace and joy of the Lord through salvation and through
00:08:59
Speaker
spot waiting for us in heaven. It makes a lot of our problems on earth seem really small. So I think that's a good way to find it. And then Beth, I know how you had some things to say about the next verse. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know that. Okay. So when Paul is going through hardships, he talks in 2 Corinthians
00:09:17
Speaker
Six that we can be sorrowful yet always rejoicing. That's very powerful and I understand that to be that even through tough times we still have things to be grateful for and we can't forget to be grateful even when bad things are happening and That even poor people who appear to the world to have nothing if they have joy they're actually rich and they have everything they need and
00:09:40
Speaker
So just kind of that concept that joy, it just kind of further separates joy and rejoicing from happiness. And I know we keep referencing the Bible a lot, but that's because it gives such a good, deeper understanding. And of course, that's where joy comes from, like Ayla said. True joy, lasting joy comes from God. But yeah, there's just such a separation between joy and happiness when you actually look into it.
00:10:04
Speaker
Yeah, I've heard that verse too, like sorrowful yet always rejoicing and everything. I had a lady explain it to me once of like happiness is the news that like you and your husband are pregnant and like you're going to have a baby, but joy through sorrow is like crying to each other when maybe you like lost that baby, but you still, you're still going to feel sorrow through that, but it's the joy in your heart that God's there with you. You're going to be okay.
00:10:31
Speaker
There's joy in grieving something like that together because it's something you're going to get through. It sounds very backwards, but it's almost like there's joy in these hard circumstances. Happiness is the happy moment. It's a good moment. Joy is what gets you through the super hard ones. It's in the crying. It's in the hard stuff you go together. Your wedding day is happiness. Marriage is joy because it's long. It's hard stuff that you have to go through sometimes, but in the end,
00:10:58
Speaker
each little fight makes you a little bit stronger. Each little hardship with moving houses makes you stronger and there's joy to be found in that. That's how I had somebody explain that to me. That's so good. I think it does a disservice to joy when people try to call it the same thing as happiness or when people try to define joy as a state of happiness or as a synonym for happiness.
00:11:19
Speaker
It really does joy a disservice and people are going to miss out on joy and the benefits of joy and the importance of joy when they think it's just the same thing as happiness. Yeah. And then one last one to round it out.
00:11:33
Speaker
saying this book is so hard first thessalonians 5 16 to 18 i'm sure a lot of us have heard this one rejoice always pray continually give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ and oh man if that isn't hard sometimes for sure like i've been going through it sometimes and heard that verse and it's like give thanks and i'm like for what for what for this awful day i'm having and it's it's so hard but
00:12:00
Speaker
I've actually found, oh my gosh this is such a side story, but I have found sometimes like when I'm really like pranking for a week or angry at something that's going on it feels out of my control and I go to pray about it I've been told to like just give a prayer of thankfulness and literally it's like when you're a child and they say count your blessings but I start writing out what I'm thankful for.
00:12:20
Speaker
I start with the basics, God. Thank you that I had three meals today. Thank you that I've got a roof over in my head. Thank you for my husband. Thank you for that. And then I write and write and write and I find so much and by the end of it, whatever I'm angry about seems so small. So it's it that is like, it doesn't mean you're not going through something hard, but when you choose to rejoice and you choose to give thanks, it can make the hard thing maybe a little bit less hard.
00:12:44
Speaker
Yeah. So, like, overall, it's okay to cry. It's okay to weep, to grieve, and to get angry because these emotions, in my opinion, are the same as happiness. They're a reaction. They're fleeting. They come and they go. But in all of those emotions, there can be joy, basically.
00:13:02
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I know it sounds like we're kind of making this a heavy topic, but I promise we're going to get a little more lighthearted here and we're going to share more of how this is actually a positive and fun and really simple, easy thing for you to benefit from and kind of put into action.
00:13:16
Speaker
Yeah. Well, yeah, so we're going through our experiences with this a bit, because again, this is something Beth and I have talked about before. So it kind of sparked from somewhere. And actually, Beth, you were the one who told me about this. So I'm curious to hear where you got it from, because where I remember us first talking about this, I guess, was early in high school. And overall, high school was kind of hard for me. Like,
00:13:40
Speaker
It varied. I did clubs and stuff that were fun, but overall, I could not wait to get out of there. Not a day goes by where I wish, oh, best of years of my life, not really, no.
00:13:51
Speaker
I didn't have the best grades ever. I struggled with like math and science. I had really bad test anxiety to the point where even if it was a subject I knew like English still sitting down with a test in front of me just stressed me out so much. I, sorry mom if you're listening, started like trying to skip as many math classes as I could because I would just be shaking going in there like I just hated so much of it. And this of course is going to pour into your personal life and I have a whole theory on
00:14:17
Speaker
in high school and kids having to go through it, how weird it is. No wonder so many teenagers have mood problems today, because high school is just not set up that great for them. But anyway, I found myself to be in a state of unhappiness, probably heaviest in my junior and senior year of just like, I would pray to God, and I was like, God, if you love me, I won't wake up tomorrow. That's not as morbid as that sounds like death, but it's just like,
00:14:46
Speaker
anything to not have to experience tomorrow like I can't do this like I was in a rough place and it's happened it's come and gone in my lifetimes like that as it does for everybody so I remember just like going through this and feeling so down on myself and like no energy to get out I was just like this is hard this is life right now I'm going through it whatever and Beth
00:15:07
Speaker
Actually, I don't think we were even talking about this. I didn't really talk about a lot of that stuff to you. When we were together, we were just like, whatever, not talking about school. But you told me separately about how you had decided to find one thing per day that brought you joy.
00:15:21
Speaker
And that just has resonated with me all the way to this day. That's still something I do often. Maybe not daily, like I should, honestly. I should start doing that daily again, because life do be hard sometimes, and it's always a good practice. But that was the first puzzle piece in really pulling me out of a bit of a state. So I did that on the days I was just praying. I used to pray that God would just strike me with lightning before school. I was like, please, anything to not have to go.
00:15:49
Speaker
And those prayers changed into, okay, God, what's something joyful today? And sometimes it was like, oh, the flowers that grew in my mom's yard are pretty. Sometimes it doesn't matter how small. That sunset looks great today. All the way to the big stuff, like, man, I got a good grade on a test today. I had to pick, no matter how bad my day was, I had to pick one thing that brought me joy. And the first day you do it,
00:16:12
Speaker
I don't know how much it'll do, but over days and days, it helped me so much. And it's something I really do still try to do with experiencing a big move and all this stuff. When things can get stressful and hard, it takes literally
Joy in Serving Others
00:16:26
Speaker
10 seconds to pick out one thing in my day that brought me joy. So I don't know if you know that, but I still use that all the time.
00:16:32
Speaker
No, I had no idea. That is amazing. That makes me so grateful that that is something that resonated with you that much. Yeah, in the same way that it resonated with me. That's awesome to hear. Oh my gosh. Do you have more of that? How did you even come to that? Because I was wise as heck for you to tell me at 15, 16.
00:16:54
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Well, first of all, I think I was a little bit too introspective at that age. I was always trying to think of philosophical stuff. I was always like just like I was kind of in like a state of trying to be very philosophical, but just trying to discover life.
00:17:14
Speaker
I'll be honest, I don't know what exactly sparked that in me. Something got me on the joy train in high school, but something did spark it in me and I just felt like a really tremendous, tremendous urge to understand it and to, I don't know, like learn more about that.
00:17:31
Speaker
Um, I will say I think that it was, it was an easy way for me to have good days. Kind of like you were saying, um, it benefited me. It was also a simple thing to share with my friends who are going through things. Um, sometimes simple as you know, like really just all you need, like sometimes the desire for simplicity will lead you down interesting paths. But, um, I will say I had a lot of the best to the best of my recollection and had to have been something to do with this. I had a lot of friends struggling and coming to me with problems for most of my life.
00:18:01
Speaker
I was the person that people came to when they were sad or when they had something they were really struggling with. Yeah, exactly, which I love that. I love that. It kept me accountable because I couldn't pour into my friends if I wasn't healed, if I wasn't in the right place with God, if I wasn't wise, if I didn't have good advice, I can't help others. That's one of the reasons I was very
00:18:25
Speaker
Is introspective the right word? I think so. I was very always working on myself. Always pursuing that at least. Part of my search for what makes me happy because I would have friends that were kind of
00:18:43
Speaker
Kind of pointing out there like you're you just seem like content you seem fine part of that was because I was very blessed I was fine, but I would always kind of thinking why am I like this and how can I give it to them? You know so it led me to learning about this concept I was I had a lot of empathy and just so much care for my friends I'm sure you being one of them I in this scenario I know we didn't like you said we didn't talk a lot about this kind of thing when you and I a la were together I
00:19:09
Speaker
I think we were both in escape for each other.
Overcoming Personal Struggles with Joy
00:19:12
Speaker
I think the reason that was is because we didn't even need to talk about that. We could have issues, but our healing went on when we went and had a good time. We just loved each other. We didn't judge each other. We've talked about that before. So anyways, we just went and had a good day. We were like, we don't need to sit and mope about it. We're just going to go do something else. Yeah.
00:19:31
Speaker
which is like honestly kind of how you have to handle it. It's all in that redirection of like today's awful, this month's awful, but here's something good, you know, like just a little bit of distraction, but yeah. Exactly. And I think the, yeah, so true. I think the only other thing I can think of where this sprouted from
00:19:48
Speaker
was at the same time, with all that introspection and everything, I had a very big fear of missing out on life. I'm very ambitious. I love life. And I just want to experience every single part of it that I can. I just want every experience there ever was. I want that. I want to soak it in a sponge. And I've always had that, such a big fear. But at least to FOMO, I have fear of missing out. So I was also just in a hurry to experience life. And I just loved
00:20:18
Speaker
inspired me when someone would talk and they're like oh I love the sound of that bird and they just all of a sudden they appreciate every little thing they notice every little thing like that person is so happy like I want that so not happy you know well happy to but you know so it just all kind of came from the things that I would notice it came from
00:20:36
Speaker
my friends, you know, needing help from me. And so of course I needed to pour into myself. And then it came from me just really wanting to experience life. And I think the little moments matter so much. I thought the little moments mattered so much. I was like, I'm going to make sure I don't forget those. I'm going to make sure that I enjoy those wildflowers. I enjoy the sound of that bird. I enjoy the smell of the air this morning, you know, that kind of thing. So I don't know.
00:21:01
Speaker
No, it was all of that stuff that completely sat with me and like, um, becomes the thing that like sustains you because like, yeah, just because like, I'm, you know, I'm going through something and then there's a gorgeous, I come back to sunsets. I love sunsets. Like I can literally be having the worst time, like just going through it and there's a sunset and I'm like, Oh, it sounds so bad. You know, like, I don't know what it does to me. It doesn't make my problem go away. It doesn't mean I don't have to like go back home and face it, but I feel like that's exactly,
00:21:31
Speaker
what joy is. It's always there. It doesn't make the problems go away. But there's actually this song. It's not a Christian song. It's just a song by this one kind of random indie band. They're called the Growlers. But the song is called When the Going Gets Tough. And he's got this verse. And it says, man's never alone if he can offer help always thinking of somebody else before himself. And it's that idea of kind of going back to the Jesus, others, yourself thing is sometimes I think
00:22:01
Speaker
With that, we're trying to create so much joy alone. It's like, I'm going to chase this job. I'm going to get these grades. I'm going to keep my house clean and I'm going to do this, which is all great and good. And you're a good functioning human if you can do that. But a lot of the happiest people I've ever known.
00:22:17
Speaker
are the people who have this sense of helping others that I wish I could have more of. These are the people who are like, I actually know a story. You know who this person is. I know a story of this one person who
00:22:32
Speaker
when he was younger his house was actually getting robbed and like a robber was running out of his house with a TV and he was like why are you doing this you know what's wrong like what are you going through and he was like you can have the TV actually like here it's cold outside take my jacket too like those kinds of people which just insane like I you know I'd be like hey what are you doing you know but it's and then it's those people who are like volunteering all their time to
00:22:57
Speaker
to help others to work with their church or do whatever. Those are the people I find, they've got so much joy that the fact that their house is literally getting robbed in front of them. They're like, oh, did you need my jacket too? That level of just peace and abiding, that's joy to me. And that's what that song makes me think of. If you're so loving and helpful to others, you can't help but then have that fill your own cup too, in my mind.
00:23:25
Speaker
No, exactly. And as you're saying that, you can't be like that if you're worried about yourself and you won't worry about yourself if you know that God's going to take care of you, which again, bringing that back down to the reason why this is rooted in faith and rooted in God, this whole concept, because you can't have that security, that joy, that constant joy and peace that would help you to be that kind of person
00:23:50
Speaker
If you're constantly worried about yourself and I notice that I like myself a lot less when I don't appreciate the world in this way when I don't always see everything I get a lot more bitter as a person and it just it creeps in very slowly.
00:24:05
Speaker
But I eventually am like, man, I annoy myself. And I'm like, oh, I'm the same kind of person I was. Well, what kind of person was I? I was the kind of person who found beauty in everything. And not everyone understood it. But I understood it. I loved, I loved loving everything. I loved being that happy. And it was just, yeah, it was so simple.
00:24:26
Speaker
It goes into like, um, cause I remember I started applying that in high school and then I was a psych major at school and we actually talked about like cognitive therapy. And, um, it's basically, I, it's, I don't have to get into the whole thing, but essentially like there's behavioral therapy and there's cognitive therapy and behavioral was like changing, you know, your bad behavior. So.
00:24:50
Speaker
You, it's hard to, yeah, it's hard to find an example without going super clinical, but basically like it's less root problem solving and it's more like, let's solve that bad behavior. Like if you have a kid with ADHD and they, they throw a fit when it's time to like sit down and read.
00:25:06
Speaker
it would be like well we need to control the fit whereas cognitive would be like in that moment you kind of decide to not have a fit like and it's really hard it's it's a really specific thing and I remember learning about that and it kind of reminded me of that too like it's you very actively taking a moment and being like this is not what I'm gonna do and obviously it's it's much much harder the
00:25:29
Speaker
you delve into the world of like psych and and like mental disorders and stuff but generally it's I have this moment where I can decide to be super bitter and super jaded and angry towards the world or I can stop and I can choose and actually like change my brain to not feel that way it was the same when I was going through a bit of a state of like depression
00:25:49
Speaker
in high school and in college too, I can either sit and take a day and be in bed, which is what I want to do when I feel that way, or you get up, you clean your house, you get outside. And I know that's not a long-term solution, but little things like that, little changes, they're hard in the beginning, but I find the more and more you do it, some of that joy starts coming back. And yeah, it can be like, you have to force it.
00:26:12
Speaker
sometimes but I swear like after a while it becomes a little bit easier and you do get to be more of that person that yeah is just like so in love with being alive and honestly then you're more fun to be around like so true no right there yeah that's yep that's such a main point I noticed that too it's one of the first indicators to me that I'm not doing this I'm kind of slipping away from joy is Mike I don't really like myself and I don't think other people are enjoying my company as much either and it's yeah oh my gosh
00:26:42
Speaker
It's so real to be able to like notice that about yourself, you know, like totally.
Finding Joy Through Adversity
00:26:46
Speaker
Well, yeah, and then I actually really want to get, I'm planning it out. I need to find somebody who can do it for me, but I really, for years, I've been wanting to get Count It All Joy tattooed on me soon to remind me of it. And I want to get it like right on my forearm, right on my wrist, like where I can see it. The actual
00:27:04
Speaker
And it has a lot of meaning for me for a lot of reasons because the context of that verse is Paul talking to the disciples about like when you go through hardship as a Christian. Like it gets very biblical in the sense of like Count it All Joy actually when you're persecuted for your faith. And this is another story for another time. That's actually the number one reason I want that tattoo is because of my mission's background and hopefully my mission's future.
00:27:25
Speaker
it's this whole thing basically persecutions happening to you as a christian it's a good thing it means you're on the right track it means you're doing well in god's eyes and to count it all joy um okay i didn't think i was going to share this story but i okay i'm sorry i have baby stories to tell but i um i've talked about this a bit but i went on a couple
00:27:48
Speaker
six month long mission endeavors a couple years back really deep in my relationship with God and in the process I had to say goodbye to some older friendships which it was hard but it happens and I'm not claiming by any means that that's the same level of persecution that you know modern Christians are facing now like actually overseas and
00:28:08
Speaker
losing their lives or anything like that. But the Bible talks about how that's persecution as well from your friends. And I had to hear some pretty hard words about myself, to be honest, about like pursuing Christianity and just like, oh, you think you're better than everybody else. You think you're whatever hurtful words, basically. And it was hard to hear that from people who were once really important in my life. But I got past it like, fine, I've moved on. It's all good. But that's another area where I want to get like, I was really sad about it at the time. And I talked to a really good leader
00:28:36
Speaker
in my life who mentioned this, just count it all joy. I know it sucks. It's okay to cry about it, but also give thanks to God because that means you're entering this new time where it's you and Jesus doing life together, doing it closely. So I want to get it for that reason, but also to remind myself in the small to count it all joy when life's stressful because life's always going to be hard going through moves, going through marriage, going through all this stuff. There's always going to be something that comes up that's hard. So in the
00:29:03
Speaker
in the missions Christian persecution context counted all joy, but in the small, in the hardship, like every day's a day to kind of like have that. When I was overseas and kind of starting to go through some of that stuff from afar, I was starting to realize like I was just going to be less and less a part of some old friends' lives or whatever. And I was in community living, so it was hard to like secretly have a bad day. Like people are around you constantly, so they can tell if you're kind of
00:29:31
Speaker
going through something and I actually again remember Beth's words like find something with joy and I started doing something when I when I would feel down about this stuff again I was on a very not gonna lie expensive trip overseas it was only six months long I didn't want to miss a minute of it it was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience so I was like no like I'm not
00:29:49
Speaker
gonna let this sad feeling like come over it doesn't mean it's not happening but I just chose to actually like just dance whenever I felt that way in front of people no music or anything but I would just walk and be like snapping my fingers and like strutting and like and I'd say and like I had friends that like it kind of became a thing that I did but I would just dance and people were like what's up and I was like just joy the Lord like whatever like oh my god I would get some harsh news from home like
00:30:16
Speaker
This is, I don't want this to sound too negative, but I was on a phone call once with somebody from a home who basically wanted to call me and Christianity evil for my views on like LGBTQ in the church, all right? Like that's kind of what it was. Like I had some views and someone was like, that's evil for you to think that you're evil and you're God's evil, basically. I was told this one morning and then went to my classes
00:30:42
Speaker
And I was so broken. I was like, I never want to come off that way to people. This isn't true. This isn't how I feel at all. And I just started dancing it out. And I was like, you know what? That person's angry. And I had one friend that caught on to it. She'd be like, bad day. And I was like, uh-huh. And I just danced through it. It's just the things like that. The problems will still be there at the end of the day. You'll deal with it. You'll get through it.
00:31:04
Speaker
And I just decided that. And I think it's something I should definitely bring back at some point, like the worse your day is going, just dance it out. Just have a dance party. Acknowledge that it's Joy of the Lord and like you'll, you and the Lord will solve that problem together. Like it'll all be okay. So that was kind of my last little tidbit and like,
00:31:22
Speaker
setting up how this has looked in my life in a lot of different ways. But yeah, to round it out, to land the plane, I wasn't happy in that moment, but it's that joy. It's gonna be okay. I don't have to be happy right now because it'll come around again. It'll be okay. And that
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:31:39
Speaker
debacle with that person ended fine. It ended up fine. It was just a discussion that became something, but it ended up, yeah, no, it was fine.
00:31:46
Speaker
Yeah, still so hard to deal with. I would say, okay, so as we promised, we told you guys we would tell you how to apply it. We, you know, kind of been trying to explain our experiences in applying it, but we'll just kind of round this out and give you a little summary of this because we want to keep this a short and sweet episode.
00:32:03
Speaker
and just kind of share something that you guys may have never heard of before. So, you know, joy versus happiness. Okay, so in general, this is kind of what it is. You're going to learn the difference. Step one, learn the difference. Learn the difference between joy and happiness. Step two, you're going to look for joy. This is like what Ayla was saying. Try to find in everyday things.
00:32:22
Speaker
Step three, you have to force the change. You have to force the habit of looking for that joy. You have to face your problems, force yourself to face problems with a positive mindset rather than a negative one, rather than dwelling in fear and sorrow. Remember joy, remember your security, and then you get to enjoy that peace and long lasting security that joy brings you, that this will bring you.
00:32:44
Speaker
I love it. That was perfect. I don't have anything to add. I think you, yeah, I think that was perfect. Love it. Okay. Well, there it is, folks. There it is short and sweet. I hope that this has been an encouraging part of your morning. We, uh, like I said before, we like reflecting on this, on this topic. So I think this was good. I loved this conversation. I'll talk about this any day, anytime with anybody.
00:33:08
Speaker
Yeah, and we want to be somebody that you can talk to as well. We never claim to be experts in life or anything like that. We're two people trying to figure it out. But honestly, if you're somebody going through something similar, going through anything really, if you just need a buddy, our DMs are always open. We'll be your friends now. We're trying to build up just a little community, a little family where we can just talk about what we're sharing on each episode.
00:33:33
Speaker
be a resource or we can at least direct you to better resources, anything like that. So, um, our DMS are open. And as we always say, if you've got something to add to the conversation, you can reach out to us on Instagram at art of intention podcast, or you can always email us and that's just art of intention podcast at gmail.com.
00:33:53
Speaker
Absolutely. Feel free to follow us wherever you listen. We are on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Zencaster. If you haven't already, definitely leave us your five star rating. And then like Beth said, check out our Instagram for resources and so that you never miss another episode. And don't forget you now catch us every Tuesday. So we'll see you next week on Tuesday with another episode. Bye. Bye.