The Path to Joy in Everyday Life

I have been blessed to experience joy in varying degrees throughout most of my life.

At first, I equated "happiness" with "joy," but eventually I learned that "joy" was a quality light years beyond mere happiness.

Joy is a connection with the Divine.

When you feel true joy, you know you are connected to the Universe. As I became more connected with and open to the Divine, I experienced more joy!

I shiver when I remember my early feelings of joy. I now think that those were Divine "teasers" of something better to come, glimpses of how fantastic life could feel when I opened up. It took me a while to realize that, though.

One childhood pleasure was art, starting as a toddler and staying with me all of my life. Art was my first exposure to "creating," and once the joy of creating was embedded, creativity filtered into other areas of my life, and so did joy.

I have always had a rapport with the natural world. Whether I was with our family pets, or on early trips beachcombing, or walking through the redwood forests near my childhood home of San Francisco , I felt those tingles of joy when I "opened" and connected with the Divinity of Nature.

As a teen, I lived and worked on our farm in the Missouri Ozarks. Life then was far from joyous, but it was punctuated with occasional glimpses of something better. One particular glimpse came after I had done my after-school chores, trudging through snow to care for the cattle, rabbits, ducks and geese. After giving comfort to these creatures, I entered our warm home where my mother gave me a mug of hot cocoa. I had given love to the animals, and had received love from my mother, a simple cycle yielding joy.

That same period was filled with much sadness and pain. My hard work, excellent grades, and politeness were never enough for one particular individual, which hurt. I know it impacted me, because years later I would have to heal from it. But the Universe allowed me to experience joy occasionally: More glimpses ("teasers") of a truly good life to come, one that draws upon those very activities in part.

College was a joyous dream come true. I did well enough in college to be accepted into my first choice graduate school. Initially terrified, I soon excelled. I learned, taught, researched and gave public speeches. I remember my first national lecture, twenty years ago: My mouth was dry when I approached the podium, and my voice was stilted for the first minute, but then I delivered a sentence with power, hit my stride, and the rest of the presentation was energized and packed with knowledge. Finishing, I felt joy that intensified as I received a round of applause from the audience. I was in my element.

Grad school successes led to moving to Chicago for a dream job at Field Museum . My first year at Field Museum was highlighted by success beyond my wildest dreams, and I recall one day walking down the street feeling such intense joy at having found (what I thought was) my purpose in life. I had international fame, a comfortable income, and the prospect of great future achievements and rewards, and I issued an expression of gratitude to the heavens for allowing me to have a clear direction in my life. Little did I know that I would soon change directions.

Everything happens for a reason. Despite (or because of) my huge successes and accomplishments, trusted (but jealous) people sabotaged my career; joy disappeared for several years. I designed a new career concept that would bring great joy for others and myself, but I had to take a "temporary" managerial job to feed myself. That decade-long "temporary" detour earned me vast knowledge and experience, but few glimpses joy. I found myself praying, "Why is this happening to me?" more than once. The answer eventually came: I needed to heal. After completing most of the healing, I could see that everything in my life had happened to prepare me to succeed at my newly designed dream career that helps others find joy in their everyday lives . THAT was joyous.

Today I have my dream life. You can, too, by just opening your mind and heart to being Divinely joyous. Don't be content with mere happiness! Seek Divine joy every single day!

By Bret S. Beall