Happiness vs. Joy

If it seems like happiness is easier to achieve than joy – you’re right. We have focused on how our purpose is to feel joy this month. So, let’s take a look at the difference between the two.

First, Happiness:

Merriam-Webster defines happiness as: “A state of well being or contentment.”

Abraham Lincoln said “Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” Those words were spoken from a man who had plenty in his life to feel less than happy about. He is known for the emancipation of the slaves and being one of our country’s greatest presidents, but his personal life was full of failure, doubt and loss. Yet through those struggles, Lincoln understood one of the most important parts of happiness, we can decide to make it happen. Sometimes we have to decide to make it happen. So, many times finding our happiness is a matter of choosing to be content with our circumstances.

Now, Joy:

In defining joy, Merriam-Webster includes “the prospect of possessing what one desires.”

That “prospect” speaks to the hope contained within joy. That could be why it’s harder to find. Joy is something deeper than happiness.

You can have bits of happiness without joy, because you can almost force it into your life. You can will yourself to choose it. But happiness that flows out of joy is something altogether different. It is something closer to our purpose.

Consider Beethoven’s famous “Ode to Joy.” It is nearly impossible to listen to this song without your spirit being lifted to a higher place.

Leonard Bernstein beautifully assessed that song and the power of music here.

Or if the Muppets are more your speed, Beaker’s simple rendition will leave you in fits of laughter.

The “Ode to Joy” starts small, and builds until the music is bursting out of the instruments. Joy in our lives is the same way, it starts small in us and grows until it erupts into everything we do. It erupts into fits of happiness and even laughter if we’re lucky.

We believe in starting small at Do Tell: The Relationship Game. Just like the “Ode to Joy,” finding the joy we were built to live in can begin with something simple. Our game is based on simple questions and building simple times with friends or family. These are the little steps that can start a small revolution in your life. Just like the stroke of a violin or the “meep” of a Muppet, when we find our purpose, it will start out small and grow into something larger that can’t be contained.

When you look at the world through the eyes of your joy, you see that it’s really a funny place. You can be happy. You can get the joy you want out of life. You can find yourself erupting into laughter. Choose happiness and grow it until these moments become the foundation for your joy. It will build on itself and not be contained in your life.