Discovering the JOY in any season

As we look out around the world, there is a lot challenging us to discover the real joy in this season. Maybe for you, it is more personal with memories or realities that leave you feeling less than cheerful, but let's look closer at the possibilities.

In my book, I described it this way: Real cheerfulness is not have-a-nice-day artifice. It's a way of experiencing the present, no matter what the weight of the world or the weather. Cheerfulness celebrates the possibility of meaning around every corner. It buoys us up beyond our individual concerns and invites us and others around us to find something to be happy about. 

It is in the times that challenge us that we need one another's cheer. This is validated by the humanistic concept advanced in South Africa called Ubuntu that not only provides the foundation for African management but also is pertinent to our understanding of self-transcendence. The full expression in Zulu of this concept is UBUNTU NGUMUNTU NGABANTU, translated roughly into English as "A person is only a person through other persons." Importantly, Ubuntu is not about relationships per se; rather, it is about human-ness and how only human beings can establish the human-ness of others. The concept is congruent with Viktor Frankl's humanistic philosophy. I propose that it is because of Ubuntu (that is, our human-ness can only be truly expressed as a “reflection” of others), that self-transcendence occurs. In effect, we must be able to extend beyond ourselves so that we can fulfill or realize more of ourselves. 

The search for meaning in our lives takes us on paths large and small --- paths that sometime challenge us to reach out beyond ourselves to discover the joy in any season. When we go beyond ourselves --- whether in forgiveness, unselfishness, thoughtfulness, generosity and understanding toward others---we enter into the spiritual realm of meaning. By giving beyond ourselves, we make our own lives richer.

"...Life will give you back everything you have given to it.
Your life is not a coincidence. It's a reflection of you!"
--- The Echo

What can you do to move beyond yourself to reflect the joy of any season for others---so you become more yourself?

All the best,
Alex 

Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.
author, Prisoners of Our Thoughts
founder, Center for Meaning
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Comments

[Joe Raasch]

Dr. Alex,

I just finished a second read of your book. It is becoming clear to me that our society doesn't possess bad intention and not want to find meaning. We just forgot how. Much the same in our search for joy during the holiday season. I celebrate Christmas and see the extended commercialism that some try to use to get that joy. We want it, we just forgot how to find it.

[Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.]

Dear Joe,

Thank you for letting me know that you've read my book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts, a second time! And thanks for posting your insightful comment on my meaning blog. I have actually included your comment in my next post along with a more detailed version of my response. I thought it would be helpful for others. Let me know what you think.

Happy New Year!
Alex

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