Portable Joy

Point to Ponder:
Do you share your joy everywhere you go?

by Neissa Brown Springmann

At times I find myself living in my own idealist world, but really I am an optimistic realist. My idealist world does not exist of unicorns and rainbows and everyone frolicking in flower-covered fields with linked arms. I’ve experienced and seen enough life to know that bad things happen to everyone, life is filled with countless trials and struggles, people aren’t perfect and therefore our actions hurt others. I believe this is and will always be life on Earth, however the world I find myself giddy over is one where we realize the life-size impact that our small yet intentional joy-filled actions can have on the lives of others and the butterfly effect that follows. This is why I love the quote listed above, “Joy is portable, so bring it with you.”

If you are unfamiliar with the butterfly effect, by definition it the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. I think that our lives can be lumped into the complex system category, and yet complex, there is an opportunity to find joy in every moment, bring it with us and pass along to others. It’s the complex and unique ability to constantly look outside of ourselves and recognize how sharing our heart with others can change the life of someone else.

In last week’s journal How to Have Joy in 30 Days Experiment, the focus was to find joy in the ordinary. This week we’ll continue the experiment with finding joy in the ordinary, however I’d like to take it a step further by making your joy portable, bringing your joy with you everywhere you go and sharing it with others.

Unlike the definition of idealistic, which is to dream of perfection, I don’t dream of a perfect world. I dream of a world where we realize the significant impact that we can have on others by doing small things, such as the free gift of sharing our joy everywhere we go.