Recently my husband I and stopped at a small restaurant in our home town of Annapolis. The atmosphere was very cheery, and we couldn’t help but notice that the three women who were working there all seemed to be having such a good time. Even although the work was somewhat mundane they all had so much enthusiasm and joy.
Since then we have not only returned ourselves, but have told many people about it. And not because the food was so special (although it was quite good) but because it’s the kind of place you really enjoy going to.
Joy has that affect on you!
Sometimes I think that all those customer service trainings are missing the boat. If they just taught people about joy they’d probably save companies a lot of money and be much more effective.
We often think that joy is a feeling, and is conditioned by the situations that we find ourselves in. Yet I’m sure that we can all think of someone who seems to radiate joy, even when in the most trying of circumstances.
I believe that is because joy is not a feeling but a flow of energy that emerges from your inner Core. And even although people, situations, objects or events may evoke joy, they are not the source.
As a great teacher, Torkom Saraydarian said,
Joy is a state of beingness in which your consciousness is not conditioned by the environment or by the thoughts, emotions, and activities going on in your environment.
He went on to say that..
Joy brings vitality not only to your body but also to your thoughts, emotions, actions, expressions. You become full of vitality; you become a source of vitality in your environment.
These three women certain brought vitality to their environment.
So the next time you exprerience joy, stop and take the time to really feel it flow through your whole body. Drink it in. And remember, joy is not just a feeling, but a very magnetic state of being that you can access no matter what is going on around you.