Bouncing with Joy

What comes to mind when you hear the word JOY? Recently, I realized, I felt full of joy; so much joy I bounced with it. This got me thinking as I became aware of an inner voice, shouting, “Rein it in, rein it in!”

Joy, is a bursting happiness. It is a natural human emotion. Webster’s defines it as “a feeling of great pleasure or happiness that comes from success, good fortune or sense of well-being.” Nope, not going to do it., not going to rein in Joy, I’m going to bounce with it!

I believe joy erupts, when we free ourselves from all that’s in the way of living true to ourselves. I’ve been freeing myself for most of my adult life, and intensely since my son’s passing and my spiritual awakening. I’ve loved and lost, and walked through deep dark night’s of the soul. I’ve come to know and live my true self. I’m taking care of my body, mind and spirit. I am free to feel joy. And I want to feel it freely.

But first, I must confront this belief that has come to my awareness, that joy is not okay…that if you come into such happiness that you are bursting with joy, you are too happy! You are going to make people feel bad who aren’t happy. What right do you have to be happy when other’s aren’t? And, the belief that joy is not okay because it bounces for it is best to keep your emotions inside and not showing.

Where can I find a joy mentor? I don’t often see someone bounce with joy, perhaps, a rock star giving a concert in the midst of joyful song. Mick Jagger bounces. A comedian on stage, perhaps, I’ve seen Kevin James bounce. Is the expression of joy constricted to stages?

Wait, I’ve found it, my joy mentor, my one year old granddaughter. She bounces with joy. She holds her arms out and they spin in little circles . They spin with joy. Her eyes beam with it, as she bounces her little body up and down.

Oh and I have another mentor of joy, our dog, Jenny, she bounces with joy whenever she hasn’t seen us for a few minutes and we reenter her awareness. Her tail wags almost at the speed of light and she jumps up high and often spins in circles. I’ve found my joy mentors…I am not alone in my episodes of joyful bouncing! And dancing, we often bounce when we dance!

Hmmm. If I bounce when I’m not dancing and I’m all grown up, does it mean I have ADHD? A lot of kids bounce, but it seems we diagnose them with ADHD and give them medication so they won’t bounce. Something’s wrong here. If we are born with the ability to bounce with joy …why aren’t more people bouncing?

We are experiencing an epidemic of mental illness and suicide. We seem to be a people devoid of joy. I’m not the only one who bought the rule, to rein in joy, It must be in the collective unconscious. It must be written in capital bold letters there, that if we feel joy to the point we want to bouce, we must REIN IT IN!

Being a human on Earth is quite a challenge. Today we are facing problems like will we survive as a species. We’re learning that we screwed up the Earth. We did it and we have to figure out how to fix it. If we can’t it’s the end of us. From the pandemic, we know that a virus can start in one little room on Earth and within weeks spread to the whole world and take a whole lot of people out with it.. We have wars and suffering and all the really tough human stuff.

Perhaps joy needs to be our collective goal and bouncing encouraged. Our joy tanks as a species are running on empty. We need joy to live our lives each day, and joy to have the high powered energy to solve our collective major problems. I propose that we eliminate the reining in joy rule, currently in the collective unconscious, and write a new rule ….”Joy, to the level of bouncing, is essential for the health, highest good and wellbeing of of individuals ,and hence for the health and highest good and well-being of All.”

When a natural human emotion gets stopped up inside of us, any emotion, such as fear, frustration, anger,, and not expressed in unharmful ways, we will eventually expereince problematic symptoms. Let’s set joy free, and along with it, all the other emotions we’re reining in or ruling out. When joy erupts within us, let’s bounce! Let’s bring the life force energy of joy to one another and our world.