"Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord."
This topic came up a few times this week and I thought it was worth restating what real joy can be. Enjoy. :)
(Originally posted March 12, 2010 - day 360: The Joy of Work!)
I have been providing some career counseling this week. Yesterday I found myself talking to someone who is very concerned about what job is going to make her happy as she has been in a job now for three years where she just doesn't like the work or the people. I tried to remind her that happiness in a job is at the intersection of being where you want to be, doing what you want to do, with the people you want to do it with. In the center of that Venn diagram there is happiness. But even then, that does not guarantee that there will be joy in the work. Joy is a different animal. Joy is defined as "the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying." Joy probably doesn't come from work, but joy can come from doing work. Joy is caused by something that triggers delight and/or happiness. Joy can be found in the process, more than in the result. I was watching that TV show with Ray Romano; "Men of a Certain Age". When the character Ray plays wins a bet on a basketball game he is happy, but he is not joyful because the way he got to the result is one of his addictions. When we achieve a result at work but it wasn't gotten there with great teamwork or great process, we are happy but we are not joyful. The Bible tells us how to be joyful in Psalm 119:1; "Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord." If you are missing joy in your work, or your life, then the question needs to be asked if you are working at your highest level of integrity and instruction of how you know you are supposed to work, according to God? A joyful day comes from a high integrity day! As we close off this week, think about today as a day of the highest integrity in all that you do and then measure your joy. I suspect that today could be a great day of joy for you!
Reference: Psalm 119:1 (New Living Testament)
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