I have a six-year-old nephew, Saul, who is very animated and joyful. He is excited about so many different things. The other night we went to dinner at his house and he was giving us a tour of this new bedroom. He had several trophies on top of his dresser. So we asked him what the trophies were for. And in his very excited way, he told us that several of the trophies are from his brothers and that he got one at a garage sale. We all smiled. Some of them are his, as well, but he pointed out the others first. There is a Swedish saying, that shared joy is double joy and shared sorrow is half sorrow. Saul wasn’t proud of his trophies because he had played some kind of sports game or won a contest. He was overjoyed that others had gotten these trophies and that he was able to also share their joy. Shared joy is double joy. 

As adults, sometimes things get in the way of our shared joy. Maybe Envy? Competition? Pride? Fear? A scarcity mentality? Why does that happen? What do we need to do to regain that shared joy?

Maybe we need to embrace the success of others, enjoy their accomplishments, celebrate their triumphs. How good would it feel?

Shared joy – brought to you by Saul, age 6. Try it.

Leanne Rubenstein
Compassion Cultivator
Compassionate Atlanta
________________________________________
P.S. I know I made this sound easy. Well, if you’re not totally self actualized 😉 and you need some practice, join us this coming Thursday evening at Kavarna to learn more about how we can train in the skills of compassion, connectedness, and our inter-dependance to one another. Come and share the joy.