If you liked the article Joy is Not the Same as Happiness, you'll enjoy this other thoughtful contribution from life coach Linda Boos.

What brings you joy? I often hear that question and recently have pondered what it really means.

Here’s my thought: I don’t think anything brings joy. I believe joy is often triggered and brought out by others, but joy is not brought to me. I know this might seem like an insignificant distinction, but let’s take a look at it for a minute.

When we are brought something, it is usually a passive act. We receive and do not necessarily give anything back. It is possible for someone to bring their joy into our life, to allow us to experience their joy and to even bask in their joy with them. But our own joy is not something, that I believe, any person, place or thing brings us. If that were so, many of us, in our current circumstances might not experience our own joy, but only the vicarious joy of others.

I do not see joy as a passive expression, it is not something I am waiting for, it is something that is always with me, always part of me. Many people, places and things trigger my joy – my kids giving me hugs before bed, my dogs licking my face, my cats purring loudly, and not the least – my husband holding me in his arms. For me to sit and wait for someone or something to bring me joy would make me dependent upon the outside world to make me fulfilled.

I learned long ago that the outside can only enhance the inside. Everything I need I carry within. My lifetime of joy is already a part of me; others can only stimulate my joy and cause me to want to let it out, so that others may bask in it.

Linda Boos is a Life Coach who can be contacted at lsboos[at]columbus.rr.com

In this article, therapist and author Dr. Charmaine Saunders provides practical tips for being happy.

Have you noticed that if you just feel happy for its own sake, people think you’re strange? They say things like, `What do you have to be happy about?’ or `What’s brought on this cheerful mood?’

The whole point of being happy on a continuous basis is that there is no particular reason - you feel the joy inside you and you naturally smile and shine, like walking near the ocean on a glorious summer’s day and being grateful just to be alive.

You can have that `bliss’ all the time, in the sun, in the rain, on good days and difficult, when life is going your way and when it appears everything’s against you. It’s feeling `okay’ inside all the time. That is true freedom. And as you shine, those around you bask in the warmth of your joy.

How do we positively work with the happiness principle?

*Look for signs everywhere
*Make positive thinking a choice
*Relax and stop worrying
*Remember life is a daily adventure
*Connect with your inner child every day
*Play every day, not just on weekends and holidays
*Love yourself enough to allow happiness

I think of myself as a `joy merchant,’ someone who sells the idea of joy. If you adopt this philosophy in your everyday life, it’ll change your life. Please write to me if you want to know more about living with joy.

Excerpted from Dr. Charmaine Saunders' article “Happiness” available at iSnare.com