Easy to be Heavy… Hard to be Light!

Watch, O Lord, with those who wake or weep tonight,
and give your angels and saints charge over those who slumber.
Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ,
Rest your weary ones,
Bless your dying ones,
Soothe your suffering ones,
Pity your afflicted ones,
Shield your joyous ones,
And all for your love’s sake. Amen.

Night Prayer of St Augustine

As you travel along life brings you surprises. Sometimes those knocks at the door or email messages are filled with joy. Other times they have sadness and sometimes a little fear! When you are a happy person, a truly happy person, the sadness and fear is felt but processed in such a way that negative and darkness can be turned into positive and light. If you are a happy person being attacked it sometimes takes a little more work.

I am reading “the Happiness Project” by Gretchen Wilson.  I could go on and on about this book and if we have tea together I will but today I feel compelled to quote her because her words truly touched my soul and brought me a deep level of peace.

“At first, it struck me as odd that among the prayers for the “dying” and “suffering” is a prayer for the “joyous.” Why worry about the joyous ones? Once I started trying to give positive reviews, though, I began to understand how much happiness I took from the joyous ones in my life-and how much effort it must take for them to be consistently good-tempered and positive. It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light. We non-joyous types suck energy and cheer from the joyous ones; we rely on them to buoy us with their good spirit and to cushion our agitation and anxiety. At the same time, because of the dark element in human nature, we’re sometimes provoked to try to shake the enthusiastic, cheery folk out of their fog of illusion-to make them see that the play was stupid, the money was wasted, the meeting was pointless. Instead of shielding their joy we blast it.
Why is this? I have no idea. But that impulse is there…

The joy of the joyous ones wasn’t inexhaustible or unconquerable.
I started to make a real effort to use my good cheer to support the joyous ones I knew.

-The Happiness Project-

Joyous people love to share joy! It actually seems make them feel a little un-well not to find creative ways to spread sunshine but a wise woman once told me, ” What is comforting to you might be considered annoying to someone else.” Finding the right way to support and care about a person, an organization or a country is a fine art. This summer at the  Ted Global, one of the questions to be considered is do you think kindness is an art?

If you take the example of foreign aid as a kindness than to much caring can leave a nation dependent on aid that might not remain consistent. Does kindness need to empower to be kind? Does all kindness need a response? People who aren’t used to kindness sometimes react with fear, anger or hate. Other people are wise enough to humble accept kindness. Some work to graciously protect those who are kind to them. Kindness doesn’t often have to be matched in terms of being considered equal in value. True acts of kindness aren’t about buying love or keeping score. Mutual kindness, like the word sweetheart, are just simple and beautiful. Confucius urges his followers to “recompense kindness with kindness.” The Word reminds us to,” Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

In our world joy and kindness are important. To be celebrated, an art to be carefully shared. Always protected and perhaps somehow built into everything you do…