Mission: Joy is a film featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. At the end of June, while I was taking care of Lemmy, I received an email letting me know that the film’s run on Netflix would end July 4. The timing was fortuitous for me because I don’t have Netflix, but Lemmy’s people do. Thank you, Lemmy’s people!
That echo in my mind
We See What We Look For
Much to my dismay, I have found myself grumbling quite a bit lately – way more than I usually do. I’ve been focusing on the “wrongs” of my world rather than the “rights.” As I was pondering my grumpy self, I heard an echo of what I told someone recently as we parted ways after lunch: If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right.
Oh.
That echo in my mind was clearly a message for me as well as my friend. It’s time to re-open my heart and mind to joy. I know we see what we look for, and I now realize that I have not been looking for joy. Instead, I have been holding on to low vibrational stuff I don’t need. If I’m holding on to that, my hands are not free to welcome in joy. It’s such a simple yet profound thing, so why is it so difficult to let go of all that I know is not good for me? Watching Mission: Joy, Finding Happiness in Troubled Times again gave me plenty of joyful reminders along with sweet moments of laughter and smiles.
That picture in my mind
Struggles Are Necessary
However, it is important to note that the film does not deny the struggles people experience. It addresses the sad and troubling experiences of both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu. Because of their difficult journeys – not despite them – both men radiate joy in the film and their lives and legacies. According to the film, struggles are necessary to truly discover the depth and breadth of joy. You can be exiled from your own country for decades and still experience joy. You can be born into poverty and become a spiritual leader who fights apartheid and still experience joy. All I have to do is picture the two of them together giggling like 8-year-old boys to bring out my own smile and to experience joy in my own heart.
That peace in my mind
I Really Do Need to Listen
When I am taken out of my morning routine, as I have been lately between dog-sitting and summer-guest-hosting, I often lose my inner peace, which is so easy to obtain when I am in my home alone. Building that serene foundation before I leave helps me react and listen better throughout my day.
When I am dog-sitting or chicken-sitting or when I have a house guest, my morning routine can be disturbed. That’s when grumpy me shows up with bells on ringing in the “wrongs” of my world. I notice people aren’t doing what I think they should be doing. I notice that I am judging everyone and everything like I am Sovereign of the Universe and get to decide what is proper behavior and what are right actions.
And then, I think about me and what “right” actions I have not taken despite knowing that the other path is the right one. Silly me. I really do need to listen to my own advice: If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right.
That message in my mind
See the Joy
I attended the funeral of a friend recently. The funeral home was standing-room-only as people acknowledged the life that my friend had led in his own way. Although people cried, they also laughed a lot at the memories. The pastor directed everyone to silently ask for guidance as to what we were to take away from how my friend lived his life. I, of course, do not know what anyone else’s answer was, but mine was “live your life with joy.”
Huh.
It’s pretty clear the message I’m being sent is to be joyful … who would have ever guessed that the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu and my friend would all be sending the same message to me! My personal translation and synthesizing of their messages goes something like this: “Stop being crabby, Angela. See the joy that you are and be it. Searching for why you haven't been is not necessary.”
That confession in my mind
Message Is Received
This post has all been a confession that I haven’t been doing it right. I haven’t been having fun. I am not sure why I haven’t been, but I have now received this message loud and clear. Here is to a July and beyond filled with fun, laughter, love and light.
Re-opening my heart and mind to joy,
Angela Jane