Course

Lesson 10: Find the JOY

Simpliciy is a great virtue

Ortega says: “When we have arrived to pessimism   and we do not find anything in the Universe which would seem to us an affirmation able to save us,  our eyes look towards little things of every day living, as those moribunds who remember when they are on the point of dying all kind of simple things which happened to them.

We see then, that great things do not give us great pleasure nor great ambitions, which keep us busy on life , but that minute of wellness by the fire in winter, that grateful sensation of a glass of liquor that we drink, such a brilliant conversation with a friend… here we have the secret of vitality which man nowadays must think over and understand them”.

Exercise

• You have to write down at least ten actions which you consider will bring you JOY.
  Right NOW! . Without limit of words, just ten actions

Texts

ABOUT JOY

• Joy is not a word. It is a necessary virtue.

Even if the dictionnary says that is a state of mind agreeable and alive that generally is shown  by external signs, I believe that it is a virtue.
That is to say, that it is attained by voluntary repetition. There is a poem of José Hierro that I like very much, he says or better, he sings:

I arrived through pain to the joy
I knew by the pain that soul existed
By pain there, in my sad reign
a mysterious sun raised.

For that, because we still feel
music and wind and leaves JOY!
for the pain that keeps us prisoners,
for the blood which bleeds from the wound
JOY ON BEHALF OF LIFE!
we are joyful because we are alive.

And he still sings:

We live…my soul is filled with beauty
also in misty countries flowers blossom,
after bitterness and pain
is when life is shown with its most beautiful colours.

From the book: «How to cope with a Crisis», Leticia Escardó

Exercises

Exercise 1

• You have to write down at least ten actions which you consider will bring you JOY.
  Right NOW! . Without limit of words, just ten actions

Maximum time: 10 minutes

Exercise 2

• Now you are going to practise some physical exercises of breathing, that will bring you back calm and will help you to connect with your internal JOY:
  1. Flex your knees and move your body like a tree for five minutes.
  2. Be conscious of your steps. Only with socks, walk very slowly over an even surface at home. Feel the ground under your feet.
  3. Place the palm of your hands over your eyes and breath deeply for a minute.

Maximum time: 15 minutes

EVERY DAY, DO NOT FORGET TO DO YOUR EXERCISES. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK , ON LESSON 11