Here we are in March 2022. The last two years are why we now have the term "doom-scrolling." It doesn't feel like we should be joyful, not when there is so much suffering in the world. It feels wrong. But, ever so gently, I would like to disagree. It's when times seem dire that you should squeeze every awesome good thing out of life.
In an article from Wall Street Journal this week, You Can Feel Joy Even When the World Seems Bleak, Lynn Bufka, a clinical psychologist and associate chief, practice transformation at the American Psychological Association had this to say:
“'It doesn’t diminish someone else’s pain for us to feel happy or good about something,' she says. Instead, feelings of joy and happiness make us feel more connected to other people and can give us the energy and perspective to help others, she says (emphasis added)."
Interesting isn't it? Joy builds our ability to help others.
This CNN article on the World Happiness Report, a publication of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, agrees.
"'The big surprise was that globally, in an uncoordinated way, there have been very large increases in all the three forms of benevolence that are asked about in the Gallup World Poll,' John Helliwell, one of the report's three founding editors, told CNN Travel.
"'Donating to charity, helping a stranger and volunteering are all up,' especially the help to strangers in 2021, relative to either before the pandemic or 2020, by a very large amount in all regions of the world,' said Helliwell, who is a professor emeritus at the Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia (emphasis added).
Joy is good!
If you need a jumpstart on feeling some joy, take a look at one of my all time favorite pictures of my kids :-)
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