e chillier ones. People are reporting sightings of robins, and on those warmer days some people show up on the streets wearing shorts. (Brrr) There is a tangible sense of shared joy at the beauty of the day and the anticipation of the real spring.

Imagine what it would be like if we all agreed that only joy was contagious. Imagine a joy big enough to circle the globe. How long could suffering of any kind last in the atmosphere of joy?

Many years ago one of my spiritual teachers and mentors told our class a story about joy that comes back to me whenever I find that I SEEM to be missing joy.

Her son was ill from a very serious illness. As she cared for him she prayed for him, but nothing changed. One day she realized that she had no joy left in her heart or her life. Although her prayers were acknowledgements that health was her son's right and although she knew that to be true - the constant care for him had seemed to take away her joy.

In that moment she knew that she had to take back her joy. She remembered that joy was her present connection to the Divine. She declared that nothing could take her joy away. She decided to not let joy be stolen from her. No matter what the outside circumstances looked like she could still know and feel joy. As joy flooded into her consciousness, it dissolved all unlike itself and yes, her son was well almost immediately.

But the moral of this story has always been for me that joy is the connection to the Divine and that we must determine to not let that connection be taken away by outside circumstances. It might seem foolish to stand in joy when there appears to be so many reasons to allow despair to take its place. But it is in those moments that it is most important to remember that joy is always yours and can be lived in no matter what the outside circumstances appear to be saying.

As Albert Einstein said, 'Problems cannot be solved at the same awareness that created them.'

This living in joy is not the process of looking away from problems and letting them fester, or leaving them for others to handle. It is looking directly at problems while being aware of joy. That joy will shed new light on what can be done to dissolve the problem. That joy will bring new hope to those who are lost in the problem. Joy's constant companion is courage. Joy can be our armor and our shield and our light sword. With joy as our protection and courage as our companion we CAN make joy contagious.

Imagine what life all over the world will be like as everyone feels joy! Let's join together and let joy be our guide today.

Love and Joy to you,

Beca

PS

May we suggest that you read this article online where it is accompanied by other people's quotes: http://www.perceptionrules.com/joy.html

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