The Responsibility of Joy

Joy has this uncanny habit of appearing at times when you are least prepared to enjoy it.

It will never be enough when the time is right.

Just as one has finally concluded the huge operation to obtain Joy, now he has to contemplate how to maintain and sustain them.

One has to consider what is worth and what is not.

One has to understand what must be kept and what must not.

Because Joy demands that we suit its wishes if we want to keep it for long.

Change is the only constant.

How do you reason with a situation where all appears logical?

This is the scary side effect of Joy.

For whatever that belongs within its boundaries, it deems all as logical.

Everything seems advantageous. Everything seems to forward its agenda.

Yet we all know even the greatest ball of fuel cannot burn at its brightest forever.

That one cannot live to obtain Joy alone. Life demands much more than that.

He may make certain things into his Joy, but never Joy alone, because he will be prevented from fulfilling his basic responsibilities in life.

One must consider if he wants to shine for a hundred years as the brightest star in the sky, or find a way to shine sustainably for many millennia to come.

The question is not just how to obtain Joy, but how to make it sustainable.

Therefore Joy is another responsibility we must shoulder.

To continue to enjoy it, we must learn what to do and how to make it last.

To select the many things out of its boundaries that will make it so.

Otherwise the flame will consume so much fuel that it will burn itself out in no time.

Life is all about responsibilities.

Some are required by us without option.

While we can choose to take certain responsibilities up ourselves.

If we want something, we pay for it, and accept all its limitations along with all its advantages.

That in itself is a responsibility.

The same applies for Joy. We want it, we pay for it. We have too much of it, we pay the penalties as well.

If we want it to burn brightly, we must accept that it will burn itself out fast.

And when it is gone, we must accept that this must be how it will end.

Because we chose to make it so.

Not knowing this is the case will not save us from suffering.

Now many things are coming my way.

To keep the Joy and peace I have, I must find a way to make them sustainable.

Things that are detrimental to them may keep coming my way.

But that does not mean I ignore them to just hug on to what is dear.

It is here I must decide how brightly the fire of Joy must burn.

Joy cannot be the excuse to absolve me from my other responsibilities.

This is the greatest way I may give this Joy the credit and care it deserves.

By making it last and be comfortable to all.

To understand what is right, what must stay and what must go.

What we can keep in a sustainable way.

As much as it is here to make me understand happiness, it is also here to make me learn.

To bring me to the next level, not just on how to handle bad things, but also good ones.

And how to hold on to good things in the face of bad ones.

We can go through anything together, no matter how challenging time or circumstance may be.

The greatest challenge however, comes from our will and strength to keep it going.

It will be here we know what is truly worth.