SQUASHING JOY

     Joy is durable, surely, but fragile as well, and easily squashed. How often and how easily do we encounter someone who seems unusually joyful and make some kind of squashing comment to them? "Wow. You sure seem happy today... what are you so bubbly about? What's with the good mood?" We are almost accusatory, definitely passive-aggressive, and often sarcastic. And people make the same kind of remarks to us when we are feeling exceptional. It's almost as if the world is in collusion. We seem to silently agree that nobody should be allowed to be too joyful, and if they are, we feel entitled to jab at them with guilt induction and bring them down a size. Perhaps it has something to do with a kind of primordial resentment. It seems more natural to resent people their happiness than to share in it. There's a sense of "not fair" when others are thriving and we are not.
     The loving thing to do is to rejoice in their good humor, and to accept it gracefully and let it wash all over us and lift our own mood by mere association, but so much more often, we make the impulsive decision to squash them instead. We feel an urgent need to put them in their place. And in the receipt of our not-so-helpful commentary, we watch joy deflate like a popped balloon. And maybe we feel badly and want to take our comment back- but by then, it's too late.
     Let's think before we speak. Let's celebrate the happiness of others, and if we cannot celebrate it, let's at least make the decision not to crush it with sarcasm or some other kind of clever quip. Life is hard and joy is precious. Let's honor it properly and give it room to breathe and grow.

I pay attention to the squashing of joy in myself and others, and choose not to participate. I celebrate joy instead, and feel grateful for bubbling happiness wherever I encounter it.