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CTC Readers' Poll:
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"My
definition of joy: That moment when I remember who I am in
Christ. It is then that I believe Him. I remember that He
is on His throne, and it is He who is responsible. Not
everything is my responsibility! I don't have to fix
everything! I can just rest in the knowledge that He
guides me to do what He calls me to. In church last Sunday
it was described this way: God's music is playing all
around us at all times, but we don't listen and therefore
are not in rhythm, not moving with the melody. We are out
of sync. If we stop to listen and begin to feel the Music
again, then move in its time, we are moving in the way God
wants us to move, and it feels absolutely right. It is in
those moments that I feel great joy in the blessings who
are my family and my friends. It is in those moments I
remember that things do not make me happy. My faith,
family, and friends are my joy!
What
steals my joy: Whenever I think I 'need' some material
item that I cannot afford and then dwell on that. Dissatisfaction
with my life can seep in and ruin a perfectly good life.
Materialism robs me of my joy. It's been my life's
struggle to be content with the things I already have.
When
I feel my supply of joy running low: I go somewhere quiet
and remember the good things I have, and the unrealistic
expectation I place on possessions. Then I make a solid
plan to spend time with the people who bring me joy, or
carve out time to do something I love to do - read,
scrapbook, take a walk, listen to a favorite CD or watch a
favorite film. Another great restorer of joy for me is to
plan to do something nice for someone. It always gives me
a lift." ~ Eva
"At our center we teach on joy – which neurologically means that 'someone is glad to be with me.' You can visit our website at www.lifemodel.org to get books and all sorts of material that talk about the brain and what happens with joy. We have learned all this information from a psychologist at UCLA – Dr. Allan Shore -- and have used it to present how God has miraculously made our brains. We teach how to build joy in the brain and how to return to joy from the big six feelings – anger, fear, sadness, disgust, hopeless despair, shame. Other emotions are combinations of these six but these six have spots in the brain where they are and we need to learn how to return to joy from them. We travel to teach this info and we also have a THRIVE conference where people attend to do the right brain work of building joy – building their capacity to handle difficult times and emotions. Your brain can be scanned to see how much joy you have by going to a brain scan center. Dr. Daniel Amen has a good center for scanning." ~ Kitty "Joy to me is the
feeling I get, expected or unexpected, when I see someone or
something I have not seen for a while. It is a simple
feeling of pleasure, it need not cost money or time or even
effort. It is a good feeling that I get whenever I put
forward my best effort and the reward is THE JOY of doing a
great job. Joy is an acceptance of who I am and what I am
and being comfortable with it." ~ J.L.R. "Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is a momentary thing brought on by something good while joy is deep inside and lasts and can only truly come by knowing Jesus. Music is my favorite way of keeping my joy topped up!" ~ Carol "Joy is having God's perfect peace. Make sure you start your day with God's Word. Don't fill your day so much you don't have time to relax. Our society has become so busy. Busyness robs our joy. Trying to 'keep up with the Jones,' be a Superwoman or Superman, and other perfectionism attitudes also robs our joy. When we can keep things simple and realize Who and what is really important when our life is finished, we can experience that true joy that comes from knowing Christ!" ~ Candy Editor's Note: Thanks to all these readers who took time to write! |
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