"the word happiness comes from the same root as the word happening, suggesting that happines is based on something happening to us. happiness is circumstantial. if i pay off my car, i'm happy... if my friends say nice things about me, i'm happy. there is nothing wrong with happiness. it's wonderful. the only problem is that it is based on circumstances, and circumstances have a tendency to shift...

joy, on the other hand, is something which defies circumstances and occurs in spite of difficult situations. whereas happiness is a feeling, joy is an attitude. a posture. a position. a place... it is not a feeling, it is a choice. it is not based upon circumstances, it is based upon attitude. it is free, but it is not cheap... it is a promise, not a deal..." -- you gotta keep dancin' by tim hansel


"one of the most common obstacles to celebrating life fully is our avoidance of pain. we dread pain. we fear pain. we do anything to escape pain. our culture reinforces our avoidance of pain by assuring us that we can live a painless life.

advertisement constantly encourages us to believe that life can be pain-free (but) to live without pain is a myth... to live without pain... is to live half-alive, without fullness of life. this is an unmistakable, clear, unalterable fact... many of us do not realize that pain and joy run together. when we cut ourselves off from pain, we have unwittingly cut ourselves off from joy as well." -- celebrate the temporary by clyde reid


"you and i were created for joy, and if we miss it, we miss the reason for our existence... if our joy is honest joy, it must somehow be congrous with human tragedy. this is the test of joy's integrity: is it compatible with pain?... only the heart that hurts has a right to joy." -- how can it be all right when everything is all wrong by lewis smedes