I seldom hear of people searching for their joy. I usually hear about the need to be happy, prosperous, healthy, contented etc. Joy usually is something you hear about at Christmas when we sing “Joy to the World…..” I never hear of people looking for joy. What is joy and is it the same as enjoying yourself. I have enjoyed situations and people but I never thought of it as my joy. Yet to have joy in your life is key to your wellbeing. Can we create joy in our lives each day? Did we forget it’s importance? I know I have.
I look at this year so far. In just two months my sister died 10 days after her husband’s death (his death was expected, hers wasn’t). On top of that my own daughter was diagnosed with leukemia in January and my daughter-in-law relapsed with her very advanced blood cancer. In the middle of the night, for no reason, my knee locked up and put me back to a knee surgery I had 30 years ago. What is that? On top of that, while watching TV one night, my foot went to sleep (unbeknownst to me) so when I stood up and took a step, down I went. Is this crazy or what? Now I’m working with my attorney and an old timeshare company that Richard purchased long before I knew him, (1992) who want to collect $10,000 back maintenance fees. I can’t make this stuff up. Somehow, in spite of it all, I have to find joy each day. I consider it an essential to my physical and mental wellbeing.
As you know or are learning, your emotional body is constantly affecting your physical body. I figure all these crazy knee, foot and also a bout of bronchitis in there were screaming messages to me that I needed patience in moving anything forward. If you read (and I urge you to purchase this book) “The Complete Dictionary of Ailments and Diseases” by Jacques Martel, you will learn a major affect of not having joy. Look up any of the blood cancers (there are at least a dozen types) and you will see the number one cause is the of a lack of joy.
When I first read this is didn’t surprise me. My daughter-in-law never recovered from the loss of her husband (my son who died of cancer). She grieved for years and eventually was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (a very complicated and hard to treat blood cancer). Her bone marrow transplant of a couple of years ago failed and she continues to decline. In many ways, she wants to leave and join him and others. My daughter has always suffered from high anxiety and a learning disability. Very smart but low self-esteem. Lien was adopted as an infant from the Baby Airlift back in 1979 when Saigon fell. Lots of trauma. She now has Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Of course, depression, anxiety and other issues are the result of many factors and don’t cause Leukemia or other blood cancers.
It is very important to be able to look back at one’s life and see causes to celebrate. When we don’t have them, there is a tremendous sadness. I hear this over and over again from clients who are unhappy with their lives. Here’s what Jacques Martel quotes from his book “Blood cancer is joy that is no longer flowing freely in my life….I am destroying myself and refusing to fight…Leukemia often appears after the death of a loved one….If I am older, already retired for example, I may realize that it is now too late to achieve my ambitions. I am experiencing disappointments with my projects; either I have too many of them, or I have the impression that it is now too late to complete any of them…. I have rage in my heart.”
There’s more but that’s enough to understand the importance of JOY. I just attended the conference of blood cancer united. This is a nationwide foundation that provides incredibly important work for those who have the disease and doctors and caretakers who work with them. The numbers of attendees was powerful. So many people have one of the blood cancers. The numbers are startling. You could be working with a fellow worker who has it and you might not know it. You might not know you have it until some symptom becomes acute. My daughter complained for awhile about a pain in her side. Eventually, we thought it might not be a pulled muscle. Sure enough, it was an enlarged spleen and she was admitted from the emergency room and on chemo that night. Life is like that.
I wonder sometimes if the rise of cancers, particularly blood, in the general population is due to a lack of joy among it’s citizens. I never hear people talk about their joy. What brought me joy today? What brings me joy on a daily basis? How can I find room or time for something that brings me joy. Joy is just, if not more important, than exercising and sleeping well. Joy can be the longevity pill of life. It’s an idea with the rise of cancer diagnosis, especially in young adults. Maybe we need joy influencers, not superficial behavior but genuine, authentic joy that is not reliant on something you buy or escape from. What joy have you had in your life today?