The joy is gone :-(

[thespiritual1]

I always knew that with the passage of time, the joy in my life is decreasing. It was already reduced to a great extent when i was 18, but now, when i am 22, it is completely gone. A wierd, fake and lousy joy has taken its place. i laugh but i am not that happy. i am cheerful, but still i feel dull. Its like all the real joy has leaked out of my body in the past 22 years. I hope that meditation will bring be back the joy that i have lost. i hope to feel it again some day. i just have to wait and see how life unfolds.

[ThatMan]

It feels like you are just existing and not actually living, right? I know the feeling.

Yes, meditation is the key, I've been doing it for almost an year, so I can say that things improved a little bit ( maybe it works for you in a faster way ) but at the same thing I experienced some of the most amazing things that one can experience, I can talk a lot about these experiences, but you can experience them first hand if you will make a habit from meditation.

[iamthat]

Hi thespiritual1

You say that you are not happy and you feel dull. Is it possible that you have a subtle form of depression? Maybe not strong enough to interfere with daily life, but still present in the background.

I would differentiate between happiness and joy. For me, happiness is a temporary response to something external - good news, meeting a friend, some kind of success. Joy is a quality which arises from within, whatever the external circumstances. And meditation can help us find our inner joy.

Another approach is to work out what in life excites you. Are you actively pursuing your dreams and doing what fulfils you? Or now that you are an adult, are you just doing what you have to do to get by? Are you living according to your own aspirations or is your life dictated by the expectations of others? If you are sacrificing yourself to meet the expectations of other people then that might explain why you have lost all the joy of living.

Just some thoughts which might be helpful.

Peace

[Miss Hepburn]

Love God, care about nothing else, think of nothing else...don't care about yourself or your feelings.
Give your attention, thoughts, intentions to God...just as you would a
girl/boyfriend....give your attention/heart to Him.
Then, all else will come.
If you believe God is in His creation...give, give kindness to 'it'.
Do this for 2 whole weeks, not thinking of yourself...and see.

That is the advice I would give to a spiritually minded friend.

[Starman]

Take it one moment at a time and learn to literally live
in the moment. As everything exists in the moment. Let
go to the eternal moment.

The mind exist to reflect the past and future,
but you will always exist in the moment. Let go of any
concepts you may have of happiness or joy. Happiness
and joy are remnants of love.

Your relationship with the divine exists in the moment,
all the wisdom you seek exist in the moment. The most
fulfilling rich, sweet, thick love exist in the moment.

Freedom from time and space exists in the
moment. Don't get caught in time. Yesterday and
tomorrow does not exist; now is all there ever will be.

Time is a shadow play used to develop the moment.
Find your center within and listen to the quiet silence.
Stretch, breathe deeply and give thanks for the moment.

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by thespiritual1

I always knew that with the passage of time, the joy in my life is decreasing. It was already reduced to a great extent when i was 18, but now, when i am 22, it is completely gone. A wierd, fake and lousy joy has taken its place. i laugh but i am not that happy. i am cheerful, but still i feel dull. Its like all the real joy has leaked out of my body in the past 22 years. I hope that meditation will bring be back the joy that i have lost. i hope to feel it again some day. i just have to wait and see how life unfolds.

It’s great your aware there is always more and change if you seek it will come your way.
Life is full of surprises, experiences, changes, growth and new understandings..

With all that comes age, stages and more connections..

Your work, those people around you will all transform you..

Meditation will support you..

It’s a journey.

In the meantime when joy feels lost, find ways that bring you joy. Whether it’s creating, visiting places you love, music, nature..whatever rocks your joyful self.

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

Try this experiment ...

Recognising consciousnesses contraction as real since we so feel
Pour out love & empathy to whoever we meet with childlike zeal
If we are not happy ... hormones or circumstances ... so be it
We being self illumined take joy in seeing the others face lit!

As we engage in this activity from the core of our heart
Although we may know it not a magnetic stirring within will start
Being none other than the vibrations of Love Divine
Enveloping our being in an ecstasy of bliss upon our choosing to align!

Align ... in thought, in word and in deed in lived reality
By choosing to rotate polarity
Forgetting ourself, concerned about the other, one & all, we embrace
Their joy then reflects upon our own face!

***

[ocean breeze]

If its gone then just let it go. Chasing after it just pushes it away.

Odd how i feel joy and lively when i don't seek it.

[flyhigh]

You can renew that lost joy by returning to the "source" of everything. The closer you get to this source, or God, the happier you'll feel. The opposite is also true: the further away you are from the source, the more miserable you would likely be.