Lebensfreude – Joie de vivre, originally uploaded by Thorsten Becker.

From Wikiepdia:

“Joie de vivre (from the French joie, “joy”; de, “of”; vivre, “to live, living”; “the joy of living”) is a term sometimes imported into English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life; an exultation of spirit. Joie de vivre, as one scholar has written, can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And joie de vivre may be seen as a joy of everything, a comprehensive joy, a philosophy of life, a Weltanschauung. Robert’s Dictionnaire says joie is sentiment exaltant ressenti par toute la conscience, that is, involves one’s whole being.”

Many people are looking for joy in their life. However, I find that we often tend to confuse joy with fun or pleasure seeking. There are plenty of activities offered to us that (supposedly) are fun and pleasureful. However, those feelings don’t last very long. They fade away shortly after the activities end and we’re often left feeling somewhat empty and longing, seeking more fun and pleasure in turn.

Joy on the other hand is not tied to specific actions but to our disposition, our attitude and outlook on life. Joy is often found in rather mundane things such as a nice meal, a walk through the park, lounging in the sun, a stroll down the beach as well as hobbies. Also, joy and happiness are closely related; a joyful person is most often a happy person. Someone that has a lot of joy radiates it and is a pleasure to be around. Joy can easily be shared while fun is most often tied to very subjective things, those only we may find exciting but aren’t as much fun for others.

While there is nothing wrong with having fun it is only one small part of a happy life. Finding joy is of much greater benefit and, depending on our disposition and outlook, can have a lasting affect.