A quote from Tina Turner’s memoir found its way onto my timeline in the days following her passing that really resonated with me. I’ll share it with you:
“Don’t worry if you think you’re the only one facing challenges. If the people around you don’t seem to have problems, that just means you don’t know them well enough to see their troubles, or they’re very good at hiding them. Problems are inescapable for all living beings. As Nichiren said: “No one can avoid problems, not even sages.” Living a joyful life, I’ve found, is not about trying to avoid the unavoidable. Joy comes from summoning a strong life force to overcome problems, from the smallest irritation to the biggest disaster.”
Thank you, Tina, for imparting your wisdom and talent during your time here. May you rest peacefully.
HAPPINESS VS JOY
I think we often conflate joy and happiness. They are separate. Happiness is an outward expression, fluctuating based on external circumstance. Joy is an inner state of being.
To be well means to know joy intimately. To fervently seek it out. In the exchanging of a smile with a stranger, the sun kissing your skin, learning a new skill, celebrating a loved one, practicing gratitude, being present with the quiet in-between moments.
Happiness is not having what you want, it’s wanting what you have.
ENJOY THE JOURNEY
A mantra that’s been supportive of my commitment to cultivating a joyful life is call it all joy. It derives from a piece of scripture that goes “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, this passage holds so much truth. It’s the journey that prepares you for the harvest.
My dear friend Sundai, sent me a newsletter titled On Waiting For Things, an exploration of how it feels for things to be pending in your life. Check it out if you have the time. Otherwise, in short, the author referenced several quotes on waiting, and pointed out that we are almost always going to be waiting on something. So if our life is a perpetual waiting room, we might as well enjoy the waiting, or at the very least learn how to wait well.
I don’t know about you, but the timing of my life has almost never gone according to plan. More often than not, the way my life has naturally unfolded is beyond anything I was capable of dreaming up myself anyways. Playing the long game with your life means listening to that inner voice, being courageous enough to follow where it leads, take one intuitively guided step at a time, and trusting that the rest will fall into place.
Affirmation: I trust in the timing of my life.
The Universe never says “no.” It’s either “yes”, “not yet”, or “I have something better.”
Where in your life are things “not going according to plan”? How can you surrender to the divine unfolding of your life? Can you call it all joy?
I hope you are taking good care. You deserve it all.
Until next time,
Asha Nia
Love this
New motto- call it all joy