Joy

“What if joy is my only metric for success?”
– Sarah Jones

(via Elizabeth Gilbert)

5 Comments leave a comment below

  1. We wouldn’t consider sacrifice worth the effort?

  2. Then you do disservice to quite a bit else!

  3. I believe this would make you a narcissist. What about living for the joy of others… or better yet, the good of others? Because often happiness and goodness are at odds with each other. And better to be good than to be happy.

  4. If one sets one’s desire as primarily joy, the trials and hardships of life are still present. One simply remembers towards what one is persevering, despite the difficulties. A writer or an athlete sets their goal and keeps it in their sights, as it gives them joy even in the midst of a challenging chapter or breath-taking leg of their journey.

    Joy is not happiness. Happiness comes and goes, though joy can too. Joy is remembering who you are, staying grounded in that in spite of what comes to break you down.

    I think joy is a wonderful metric for success. And of course, the original quote is a question, to invoke thought in the minds of those who see it. Take from it what is good for you.

  5. I really found this quote resonated when Elizabeth Gilbert posted it on her Instagram last week – if only we could make this a common view. As a freelance writer who’s putting together a cookbook I shudder each time someone asks me, “What do you do?” They just hear those lines and think I’m a flake.