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Happiness vs. Joy
by Dana Peters-Colley
Happiness comes from the circumstances that happen to us, whereas joy comes from within. I once heard Meg Ryan, the actress in a TV interview where she talked about how she lives. She said she used “to live from the outside, in”, meaning that she was living for happiness and finding her pleasures outside of herself and then, bringing those things into her life. Then, she grew up and learned how “to live from the inside, out.” She found her way to happiness by first finding it inside of herself, and then, bringing it out into the world. Somewhere along her journey in life she made the shift from happiness into the place of joy. It is one of the most important things we can learn in life, learning how to access joy and then, celebrating happiness when it adds itself to our lives.
Circumstances will come and go, life will throw curve balls at us and toss us things that we don’t want to deal with. However, if we can discover how to access joy in our hearts, from the inner recesses of our souls and the calm delight that comes with it, we can reach out from the inside and enjoy the happiness that gets added with the right perspective.
The definition of joy and happiness are on the right side bar of this page. You can see that joy develops inner qualities, whereas happiness revolves around outer circumstances of success and blessings.
When we stop depending on our happiness to make us satisfied, if frees the people in our lives. They no longer have to do things for us and they are free to be with us because we are free inside of the joy that we have discovered. Our joy becomes full. Then, no matter what things occur, if we can learn to abide in joy, the kind that comes down from heaven, and we find inside Christ, we are content. When we go through traumas, disappointments, losses, letdowns, and rejections, we are able to maintain who we are because we access this reserve of wholeness that we have gained from heaven.
This is what God does. He laughs at his enemies because He knows He has every situation under control. When we find that joy inside of us by our relationship with our Maker, then, we are able to come from a place of fullness – where we are filled up inside so we don’t need what is outside. We get our stuff from Him, God, our Friend and Papa, who loves us and wants for our best. Then, our friends don’t have to fulfill some need we have because we are empty. We aren’t looking for love from people who can never give it to us. We are receiving it from our Father in heaven, and He pours and pours and pours until we are overflowing with Him.
You might not be on a national TV show the next time someone asks you if you are happy, like they did with Meg Ryan. Still, the next time you are asked if you are happy, you can ask yourself, “Am I living my life from the outside in, or the inside, out?” It will give you the answers you need to discover that true happiness is found in your joy.
