Sustainable Joy

 There is no sense pretending.  Trying to run or ride from being yourself is not sustainable for long without negatively impacting the quality of life.  

 I believe that about sustainable joy:  "Be the same person all the time."  Sounds simplistic.   And I guess it is, but, to me, it defines a form of self-respect that encourages you to be who you are, not an actor to please the relational environment.   Being an actor is stressful.  A term once used for actors was "hypocrite."  Not being a hypocrite, not playing a role to please others, but being yourself, fosters an authenticity and integrity which is bedrock for any chance of sustainable joy.  

"Ah, there's the rub."  This requires real courage.  It can be so easy to fall into a camouflaged lifestyle.  It can be so easy to follow the herd.  And, it can be so hard to remain true to ourselves, when all around you say, "Change, fit in, don't make waves.".  To fit into this waveless world  we let the slow steady hum of normalism define  who you should be and what you should be doing.  Fighting the gravity of the deep rut requires courage.  

It is a great temptation to take the safe, easy, and comfortable path rather than trod the hard path to stand against the storm of convention.  But, you can't make memories to smile about later from the things you didn't do because you subscribed  and consented to playing a role to fit in.  For me at least, good memories and impossible dreams are the wheels that drive to achieving sustainable joy.  

There is a quote from "Self -Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson,   "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."   

And that "great accomplishment" can bring  sustainable joy. 

Thanks God.