Sorry for missing Saturday. I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July. I had planned on writing since it was the July 4th weekend, but since it was July 4th I got doing things and didn't get a chance to write.
For instance Friday we went out to dinner at Red Robin (Yummm!) then came home and binge watched episodes of Psych.
Love that show.
Anyway got I to bed late and by the time I got up we went to have breakfast. Then ran errands and before I knew it the day was gone. Sunday is concentrated on church, so I don't write usually on Sundays. Yesterday was the 4th and my mom was having issues so that took my time. Actually the reason I'm writing today is I'm home taking care of my mom.
If you have read earlier post you know the health conditions that my mom has so I won't go over them all, but one issue she has is she is diabetic. And her sugar was spiking really high yesterday so we're trying to get it down again so we don't have to take her to the hospital. She's sleeping now so I can write.
Anyway, I wanted to write a little about Counterfeit Joys.
So in my pursuit to find Joy, which I'm having a hard time with lately, I've been reading a book called Finding Joy; 101 Ways to Free Your Spirit and Dance with Life by Charlotte Davis Kasl, PH.D. I have only read a few sections and I'm not reading them in order I just like to open up the book skim through it til something catches my eye and them I'll read it, so I don't know how much I've actually read.
Well this morning that is what I was doing when I came across section 7, Recognize Counterfeit Joys. She starts off this section by saying, "When we do not have the capacity to be fascinated and interested in simple things in life, we become restless and bored and go in search for quick fixes." Then she goes on to say what some of these quick fixes are. Hot fudge sundaes, caffeine, computer games, shopping, watching TV, smoking, romance and sex. Just to name a few,
I have to admit that I defiantly fall into a couple of these categories, and I know there are some categories I find a quick fix from that she hasn't mentioned. for instant my love for Disney when I get down that is always a quick picker upper. My cousin for instant had a quick fix years ago when she was married to her ex. She shopped, but not for clothes or fancy things. She shopped for videos. (Remember this was a long time ago.) I remember one time when she bought $400 worth of videos at one time. Like me, she was finding joy in a quick way, because she had lost it in other places.
The author goes on to say, "We become derailed by the tricksters of immediate gratification--the desire for a quick high, rather than a slow blooming joy that comes out of the gradual awakening of our senses, out of love, and out of a capacity for awe and wonder."
I can see what she is getting at. I don't think that she means that we can not enjoy the things that has been mentioned above. I can still eat my hot fudge sundae while wearing my Mickey ears and watching a classic animated movie. I just have to recognize that even though this brings me joy at the present it is not going to be a lasting sense of joy I'm looking for. I need to find a more substantial form of Joy.
One thing she says in the section that really interested me is when she says,"Yet we honor the the needs that led us to the counterfeit joys because love, comfort or release from pain were the positive desires that led us to consume that cookie or buy fancy cars or abuse drugs." It goes back to what I just said. Not all the counterfeit joy are bad, They help us escape the pain or sorrow or loneliness that we are in. My cousin would have not needed to shop for all her videos if her ex-husband would have been the husband that she needed by being more loving and attentive. And I wouldn't be so into Disney if I weren't single and had a family of my own.
No, I would still be into Disney, I would just have my own family to share it with.
Anyway, she concludes by making a challenge to ask yourself, "What would happen if..." What would happen if...I didn't eat that hot fudge sundae? If every vacation we didn't go to a Disney park. If I didn't spend a lot of my free time watching TV. Charlotte"s answer is this, "You will be crafting a shift in consciousness that will lead you to feel comfort with your inner world, the place where Joy resides." And that's where we want to be. we want the true sense of joy not something that gives us joy temporarily.
Well that is it for me today. I hope you got the gist of what I wanted to bring out today. Remember, don't let the counterfeit Joys rule where and what your joys are. You can have these kinds of joys, but the are so much more. That's what I'm going to write about next time. The next section number 8 out of 101, Allowing Time for Pleasure.
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