3 Reasons To Pursue Your Joy!

Beat the hype!

With bills to pay, mouths to feed, and deadlines to meet, it’s not hard to recognize the importance of money for daily living. The importance of money in the 21st century cannot be ignored by any intelligent mind.  Yet, I believe that the money’s importance is so disproportionately hyped that it drives multitudes to poverty by deluding them into pursuing it at the expense of more important values.  Yes, when you pursue money at the expense of more important values, you don’t get richer, you rather get poorer.

For instance, how else would you explain the following situations?

• Multitudes slaving daily at jobs they do not enjoy, just to make a few miserable dollars.
• Parents abandoning the destinies of their tender kids to be shaped by unscrupulous, and greedy media influences, just because they are trying to ‘make ends meet.’
• Couples sabotaging their relationships because of financial concerns.
• Politicians sacrificing their integrity just to make some money.

This is just a brief list to illustrate how the 21st century mindset has so deteriorated as to elevate money to an undeserved pedestal.

The reality, however, and this is what  most of us need to realize, is that you would begin to accelerate towards greater fulfilment, happiness and personal success the moment you beat the hype of money, and overcome it’s pull and power. 

Pursue your joy!

The first instance I listed above is a situation where multitudes slave daily at jobs they do not enjoy, just to make a few miserable dollars.  I think that this is pathetic and unjustifiable.  It’s a gross abuse of self, and a waste of potential.

You have a mission, and should never sacrifice the ultimate for the immediate.  Do not live a life that is dominated by monetary concerns.  Don’t be a slave to currency notes.  I have never been a part of the rat race in any area of my life, and will never be.

The fact that I grew up in the world’s poorest continent and experienced the worst forms of poverty imaginable, was no excuse for me to make money my chief object of pursuit.  Instead I decided to pursue my joy.  I dropped out of the University in my third year as an Electronic Engineering Student to follow my dream.  I’m happy I did because that decision is now among the top three that I consider ‘the best decisions of my life.’

I encourage you today to pursue your joy!  In other words, pour your heart and soul, invest your time and resources in doing things that you enjoy.  I understand that it could seem like a life-threatening decision when you have so much pressing needs, yet, when you turn your back on money in order to pursue your joy, you actually end up with more money than you will ever be able to spend!

Joy is a very powerful indicator of ‘alignment’ which controls the dynamics of success and failure.  The more aligned you are with God, yourself, and the natural laws of the universe, the more successful, happy, relevant, and fulfilled you will be.

Below are a few of the more powerful reasons to pursue your joy:

#1.  Joy indicates that God is present!

I understand joy to be a deep and abiding inner sense of wellbeing, relevance, and fulfilment.  It’s not a superficial emotion, it’s a deep spiritual experience. Now read what the bible says about joy…

“…in Your presence is fullness of joy…”
~ Psalm 16:11b

This is a very significant revelation, it means that one of the signs of God’s presence is Joy – fullness of Joy.

The import of the scripture above is that joy is one evidence of God’s presence.  When you have that deep inner and abiding sense of wellbeing, relevance, and fulfilment, it’s a sure sign that God is actively present with you.  And when this sense is associated with any activity, it’s a sure sign that God is with that enterprise.  In other words, any activity or enterprise that fills your heart and soul with joy lies at the core of God’s vocation for your life.

This is why it’s so easy to excel in something that you enjoy doing – the fact that God is connected with it! 

So whenever you are doing something that releases joy into your heart, you are walking, and working with God!

#2.  Joy is the essence of strength!

I believe that joy is more significant than technical skills in determining the core of your personal success.  This is because, in reality, joy is the essence of any strength!

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
~ Nehemiah 8:10c 

As I wrote in 4 Keys To Boost Your Productivity, a key requirement for success in life is the ability to deal with troubles [tough times, difficulties, delays, challenges and so on].  Troubles must come. No matter how smart you are, no matter how careful you are, and no matter how spiritual you are.

It is not the difficulties and storms of life that defeat people, it’s their lack of strength.

“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
~ Proverbs 24:10

So rather than naively wishing for an adversity-free life, develop your strength, cultivate your capacity to deal with the storms of life.  This strength is hidden in your joy.  When you are joyful, you are strong, whereas when you are sad and depressed, you are weak, and so vulnerable to the predators of life.

When you initiate a new venture, sooner than later, you’ll encounter the inevitable challenges that will attend that enterprise.  You will definitely quit if you lack sustained passion for the object of your pursuit.  It is the passion for your purpose that will get you across the point of quitting.  This is why it is almost impossible to excel at anything that does not give you joy.

Majority of the so-called richest people of this planet never really set out to pursue money, success, or fame.  They simply pursued their joy. They invested their time, money, talent, energy, and other resources doing things that they enjoyed.  They embraced the core of their obsessions, and money had no other choice than to abundantly manifest in their lives.

I enjoy learning and sharing my discoveries with individuals and groups by speaking, writing, or singing to them.  I enjoy talking, writing, reading, singing, playing the piano. I enjoy seeing people discover themselves and begin to create their own personal successes.  I enjoy spending time in fellowship with my God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. These are my joys, my obsessions, my pursuit!

I don’t need money less than anyone.  In fact, I should need it a whole lot considering the fact that I live in one of the most economically challenged nations of the earth.  Yet, I really don’t care about money, not because I have so much of it, but because I’m so busy with other things!  I’m so busy enjoying my joys that money just takes care of itself!

That’s the way to live.

#3.  Joy is good medicine!

Longevity is more of a function of joy, than of any other factor.  People who live long are those who are happy with their lives.  And the happiest people are those who are functioning at the core of their personal success by doing things that they really enjoy.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
~ Proverbs 17:22

When you are doing something that gives you joy, you really don’t notice how long and hard you work at it.  In reality, work is supposed to be fun refreshing, and re-creative!

People are stressed out today and prey to all kinds of horrible so-called stress related diseases, not because they are working harder, but because they are working harder at things they have no pleasure in.

When you engage in something that you enjoy, no matter how long or how hard you work at it, you’ll still experience pleasure, renewal, and re-creation at the end of the day.

Closing thoughts…

What are your joys? What are the things that you enjoy doing? 

As a way of internalizing and crystallizing this principle within your inner consciousness, list the things you enjoy doing in the comment section below.