Headline May 19, 2019/ '' 'STUDENTS -JOY- HAPPINESS' ''

'' 'STUDENTS -JOY- HAPPINESS' ''

FOR MANY YEARS NOW - I have had the greatest of honours to see and experience life, as Students see and experience it. I live with them.

And my diaries abound with copious notes on this uniquely, spectacularly struggling life. In spiritual sojourns, it is here where I got to fathom a true 'passion for details' and the real difference between  ''Joy and Happiness''

To be a student in the Developing World, is a very daunting challenge, indeed. Every single one of them is struggling for an identity. Even the solvent and the very best ones.

But the world must understand, that the world as we know it, and experience it, can only go forward, if we learn the esoteric art of mastering the student's power to create.  .

ONE LAST MONDAY I WAS HONORED to speak to the graduating students at Arizona State University.

It was an intimidating occasion. Arizona State University is the most innovative university in the world. Plus there were 35,000 people in the football stadium.

Anybody speaking to college students these days is aware of how hard it is to be young adult today,  with rising rates of depression, other mental health issues, even suicide.

So while these talks are usually occasions to talk about professional life, my goal was to get them thinking about the future of their emotional lives, which is really going to be at the center of everything.

There are two kinds of emotions present at any graduation ceremony. For the graduating students there is happiness. They've achieved something. They've worked hard and are moving closer to their goals.

There is a different emotion up in the stands among the families and friends. That emotion is joy.

They are not thinking about themselves. Their delight is seeing the glow on the graduate's face, the laughter in her voice, the progress of his journey, the blooming of a whole person.

Happiness usually involves a victory for the self. Joy trends to involve the transcendence of self. Happiness comes from accomplishments. Joy comes when your heart is in another.

Joy comes after years of changing diapers, driving to practice, worrying at night, dancing in the kitchen, playing in the yard and just sitting quietly together watching TV.

Joy is the present that life gives you as you as give away your gifts.

The core point is that happiness is good, but joy is better. It's smart to enjoy happiness, but it's smarter still to put yourself in situations where you might experience joy.

People receive joy after they've over-invested in their friendship. The things the wisest people say about friendship is this : Lovers stand face to face staring into each other's eyes.

But friends stand side by side, staring at the things they both care about.

Friendship is about doing things together. So people build their friendships by organizing activities that are repeatedly weekly, monthly or annually : picnics, fantasy leagues, book clubs, etc.

A friend of mine organized a giving circle when he graduated. He and his friends put money into a common pot every year, and every year they gather to decide what cause they will give the money to.

The philanthropy is nice, but's just a pretext to get them together each year, so they live life shoulder to shoulder.

They say love is blind, but the affection friends have for each other is the opposite of blind. It is ferociously attentive. You are vulnerable, and your friend holds your vulnerability.

He pauses, and you wait for him. 'You err, and she forgives.'

The Honor and Serving of the latest great thinking and writings on : ''Joy and Happiness, continues''. The World Students Society thanks most graciously, author and researcher David Brooks.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all prepare  for Great Global Elections and ''register'' on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com  and.................... Twitter-!E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Cruelty & Crowns '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless