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FEBRUARY 7

JOY

MENTAL BALANCE

“Remember this—that very little is needed to make a happy life.”

Marcus Aurelius Antonius

Joy is a state of mind, and it comes in many ways. Sometimes it’s just peace and contentment, serenity, inner connection to my higher power, and knowing that I’m in the right place. It’s a smile or a laugh with friends and family. It’s gratitude, knowing I’m in recovery today. It’s the feeling I get when I finish working out or exercising. It’s the warmth inside when I’m in a recovery meeting, listening to others share. It’s a good meal, a good book, a film that moves me, a song that makes my heart sing along. But more than any of that, it’s a state of mind. It’s when my thoughts are directed at that which is fulfilling, uplifting, loving, and light in my life that joy floods in. It’s just as important that I think joy as it is to feel joy. My physical pain may be minimal on any given day, but if my thoughts are directed at the negative, the darkness, then my body will surely go where my mind is already headed.

Pain doesn’t have the power over me it once did. I’ve learned methods to cope with my pain that lessen its grip on me and my life. I use these methods to diminish my pain and increase my joy today.