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Fear of Joy

People are afraid of joy. They are afraid they'll get out of hand and lose control.

These people haven't experienced real joy -- the joy that comes from doing something G-dly and beautiful with all your heart. The fact is, there is nothing that will lift you higher. Where there is that joy, the Divine Presence can enter. Where there is that joy, there are no pits to fall into, and all obstacles evaporate into thin air.


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From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here. Rabbi Freeman is available for public speaking and workshops. Read more on his bio page.

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Posted: Jan 19, 2009
Nicely put, Cecilia!
You wrote of elevating mundane events. For many world-wide, it might be extraordinary to simply experience more normality & mundane events verses elevating them. Either from one’s own experiences or being privy to those of others, certain things appear to be normal/mundane, that should NOT: infant/child abuse/neglect, child rape/pornography, friends/neighbors violently murdered, drug overdoses, AIDS, lack of equality/opportunity, and much more. Yes, “Fear of joy is also fear of change”, but it may not just be the “lazy part” of one’s brain that blocks joy and causes alienation, it can also be the protective self-preservation part that struggles to allow joy to enter vs experiencing one’s self created joy. One can feel close to G-d, find true joy by doing from the heart, but the internal transformation encompasses more than knowing the self is good, it’s knowing that others can be truly be good, trying tohelp, and that joy can be experience from/with others. Yea, to your last sentence.
Posted By Anonymous

Posted: Jan 19, 2009
Fear of Joy
Fear of joy is also fear of change. The lazy part of your brain doesn't want to learn more about yourself. Joy coes not by the external events but by an internal transformation--a recognition of harmony, a sense of destiny that radiates like a ripple affecting the mundane events of your life and others into the extraordinary.

Things may seem normal but it is enriched with so much meaning and connectedness. Joy is not laughing it is sometimes crying and feeling pain, but knowing that all that is good too.

Joy is when you cease to feel alienated from G-d, from others and from the events of your life.
Posted By cecilia, NYC

Posted: Jan 18, 2009
Taking it in.
Perhaps you meant your fear of joy, is because it could cease. What I was referring to, is that for some, things like real joy/ real love seem alien & too good to be true at times, and thus scary, so one is not afraid of loosing it, but simply letting it in. Maybe such was lacking early on, or one lost sight of it due to a tragedy, and then later on, when such presented itself, it was shunned, for the thought of experiencing it brought emotions of sadness and hurt. So, as one continues on, one can experience, as the author wrote ~ “joy that comes from doing something G-dly and beautiful with all your heart” … “Where there is that joy, the Divine Presence can enter “ ~ One can do from the heart experiencing a joy that extends outward, but one must also be receptive, not blind to, the joy that can enter resulting from others doing from the heart by letting the brick wall down. “Joy out-Joy In”. Opening up, one can see that amongst what appears to be many tragedies, there is much Joy!
Posted By Anonymous



 


Mastering Your World
Perpetual Freedom
The Human Untied
Re-piecing
The Puzzle
The Oppressive Neighbor
Self Oppression
From Moses to Now
Fear of Joy
Healthy Contributions
Know Your Strength
Investing in Earth
Natural Desire
Unnatural Desires
The Prison of Stuff
Standing Up
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