I’ve been asked many times and questioned myself over the years. (I’ve been in and out of counseling since the late 60s / early 70s when I got my first F on a school report card.)

I have felt joy exactly twice. On e when my wife appeared in view the day we got married and the second when she gave me a particular birthday present that surprised and delighted me beyond expectation. (Travlin’ Tim)

I’ve been in good moods plenty, more lately, but meditations and counselors frequently ask me to “think back to a time when I felt joy.”

its one of those words that have never been in my vocabulary and when someone asks for it, I have to find out what it is before I can tell you I don’t have it, or if I do.

To me joy is an extreme word. An extreme rarity on the far edge of emotion. The most extreme happiness.

This isn’t a negative post. Just a statement of fact. When I am asked to remember joy on order to recover from the loss of my wife, it’s kind of counterproductive that she’s the source of the medicine to help me recover.