FMF - Joy

This post is part of Five Minute Fridays over at Lisa-Jo's.  It's where we get a one word prompt to write for 5 minutes, on Fridays, unedited.  Today's prompt is joy.

GO:

Joy?  Me?  The one who just wrote this big long post about being depressed?  How do I write about joy?  There are some days I don't feel like I know what joy is.

But then I realize, I'm actually defining joy as happiness, and the two are not the same thing.  Related, yes, but not the same.

Happy is being glad that the children emptied the dishwasher.   No, that's not right.  Joy is being satisfied with the little things.  No, that's not right either.

If I had more than 5 minutes, I would sit here and use a dictionary and define them, because that's how I think, how I figure stuff out.

Joy is watching my child who was a reluctant reader pick up a favorite book.  Happiness is ...  I'm not sure I can define either one. 

But a lot of the time, I can be joyful without being "happy."  Little Bit is a happy person.  She's always smiling, always laughing, always singing.  She is a happy person.  And I take joy in that.  I really do.  I am very thankful for my youngest.

STOP

But, I really don't want to stop, because I need definitions.  They make me... happy.  lol

Hugs,

Melinda

 

Full Definition of HAPPY

1

:  favored by luck or fortune :  fortunate 

2

:  notably fitting, effective, or well adapted :  felicitous 

3

a :  enjoying or characterized by well-being and contentment 

b :  expressing, reflecting, or suggestive of happiness 

c :  glad, pleased 

d :  having or marked by an atmosphere of good fellowship : friendly 

4

a :  characterized by a dazed irresponsible state 

b :  impulsively or obsessively quick to use or do something

c :  enthusiastic about something to the point of obsession : obsessed 

Full Definition of JOY

1

a :  the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight

b :  the expression or exhibition of such emotion :  gaiety

2

:  a state of happiness or felicity :  bliss

3

:  a source or cause of delight