The strangest conversations are had during rush hour commutes to work. While riding the train to work, I over heard a discuss of joy vs happiness. A woman was pleading her case that joy comes from within, but happiness is fleeting. To further solidify her commitment to her viewpoint, she stated that during our struggles we can be joyful although the circumstances do not make us happy. Others in the group thought otherwise stating that joy and happiness are interchangeable words. One person thought that the English language had too many words that were redundant making it difficult to truly express ourselves. Years later, I was listening to similar discussion on joy again. The debate was essentially the same with varying viewpoints with a never ending solution on what is joy and happiness.  But is it really true that happiness is fleeting? Is there really a difference between joy and happiness?

In retrospect of my own life, I thought of times when I was happy vs sad. I was happy when I graduated high school, but I was sad to leave my friends to attend college. But, was there joy in that scenario? So, I thought about of other instances in my life that might include joy. There were so many happy things that took place, like getting married to my best friend or the birth of my first child or purchasing my first home; is that joy or happiness? Websters dictionary seems to think that both words evoke a similar "state" in our emotions. I heard a comedian say that women think happiness is a state of mind and men think happiness is a place you go to ever so often for vacation.

Although we can choose our words for each occasion to express the level of emotion we feel, how often do we really relish the moments when we just feel joy or happiness. The greater issue was to remember those moments as often as possible. Who cares which word you use to describe the feeling, just express it. Well, I don't know who will win the debate, but it sure makes for good conversation on a long trip to work or over coffee.