It's All About Joy

An ancient Egyptian teaching says: When you arrive in the hereafter you will be asked two questions:

1.     Did you bring joy to the world?

2.     Did you find joy in your life?

An important learning for me in recovery is that joy and happiness are different. Recovery does not make us less human, and human life happens to us as it does to everyone else. So happiness is not a constant even though our periods of happiness will increase the longer we are active in recovery.

But Joy is something else. What I learned about Joy is this:

“Joy comes from my relationship with God. So I can be Joyous even when I am not happy.”

As we pursue a connection with our Higher Power we become happy, joyous and free. This is why recovery continues and why we continue our recovery even though our last drink or drug or binge was many years ago.

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               “You were not meant for pleasure, you were meant for joy.”

                                                                  --Thomas Merton