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23. Joy and Happiness - Tuesday Morning · Family Prayer Podcast

• 0:00
  Good morning, Grace Harbor - it’s Dan!
• 0:03
  I hope you slept well because I have a little brain teaser for you!
• 0:07
  Remember that our theme for the week is joy,
• 0:11
  and we said yesterday that being happy and experiencing
• 0:14
  joy are similar but not exactly the same thing.
• 0:19
  I’ve been trying to think of a good way to explain it,
• 0:22
  and I remembered something I learned in math class way back in elementary school.
• 0:26
  Did you know that all squares are rectangles but not all
• 0:31
  rectangles are squares?
• 0:33
  What do squares and rectangles have in common?
• 0:38
  Yep- they both have four sides and four right angles.
• 0:44
  Now, what’s special about squares
• 0:47
  that makes them different from rectangles?
• 0:52
  You’re right!
• 0:53
  Squares have four equal sides - meaning they’re all the same length
• 0:57
  - while rectangles can have sides with different lengths.
• 1:01
  Ok, don’t worry, the math part is over!
• 1:05
  But this is a great way of thinking about joy and happiness.
• 1:09
  Pretty much all happiness is a part of joy.
• 1:13
  But joy, like a square, has something special that makes it different.
• 1:19
  Happiness is an emotion.
• 1:21
  It’s a feeling.
• 1:22
  I feel happy when I’m eating pepperoni pizza because that’s my favorite food.
• 1:28
  I can be happy that pepperoni pizza exists.
• 1:31
  I can be happy that I’m eating it.
• 1:33
  And for a little while after,
• 1:35
  I can think about how good it was and still get a happy feeling.
• 1:39
  But eventually, that feeling wears off.
• 1:42
  Unless it was like the best pepperoni pizza I’ve ever had in my life,
• 1:46
  I probably won’t feel anything the next day - unless I ate too much
• 1:51
  and my tummy’s upset… but that’s definitely not happiness!
• 1:55
  Joy is also kind of a feeling, but it’s actually a bit deeper.
• 2:00
  It’s hard to explain, even for adults, but let’s give it a try.
• 2:05
  Let’s imagine that you’re eating that pepperoni pizza - or whatever
• 2:09
  your favorite food is - but you’re not eating alone.
• 2:13
  Imagine that you’re at a big dinner table, and all around that table
• 2:17
  are the people you love the most and who love *you* the most.
• 2:22
  For me, that would be my family and some of my best friends.
• 2:26
  Can you picture it?
• 2:27
  Why don’t you take some time and share who’s with you at this imaginary table
• 2:32
  and how sharing a special meal with them would make you feel.
• 2:36
  If you need more time, you can pause the podcast, and I’ll be
• 2:39
  right here when you get back.
• 3:10
  Some of you might be feeling
• 3:11
  happy, feeling loved, feeling special,
• 3:15
  and you might even have that warm, fuzzy feeling you can get inside sometimes.
• 3:20
  Well, here’s a clue that you might be experiencing
• 3:24
  joy and not just happiness.
• 3:27
  While the food at a special meal might make you happy for a day or two,
• 3:31
  the thought of being surrounded by people you love can make you feel good anytime.
• 3:37
  It endures.
• 3:39
  That means it lasts. It keeps going.
• 3:42
  And that’s the heart of joy.
• 3:45
  No matter how long it's been since you felt really joyful,
• 3:49
  or whether you're having a good day or tough day right now,
• 3:53
  there are things we can think about, people we can think about, experiences
• 3:58
  we can think about, that remind us of that special feeling deep down inside.
• 4:03
  Ok, let’s let
• 4:05
  that sink in today, and we’ll talk more about it tonight.
• 4:09
  Before we go, I wanted to remind you that today is Gratituesday!
• 4:13
  That’s our own original mini-holiday where, each week on Tuesday,
• 4:17
  we pick out someone to share our gratitude with,
• 4:20
  and then we figure out a way to share it before the end of the week.
• 4:24
  Last week, I went down to the Coffee Shop and thanked
• 4:27
  Bobby the Barista for being a great friend.
• 4:30
  This week, I think I’m going to take some Christmas treats down
• 4:33
  to my daughter’s elementary school for the teachers and staff.
• 4:37
  It’s the last week of school for the year, and I want to thank them
• 4:40
  for being awesome!
• 4:42
  Now it’s your turn - who do
• 4:45
  *you* want to celebrate for Gratituesday this week?
• 4:48
  Ok, let’s wrap up this morning with a prayer.
• 4:51
  If you want to, you can close your eyes and fold your hands.
• 4:55
  Dear God,
• 4:57
  we thank you for both happiness and joy.
• 5:00
  We thank for things like our favorite foods
• 5:03
  that can provide little bursts of joy.
• 5:05
  And we thank you for the people who love us and fill our lives with joy.
• 5:10
  Amen.
• 5:11
  Ok, Grace Harbor - have a great Tuesday, and I’ll talk to you tonight!