Thriving: The Means to Joy

Thriving is often conceptualized as the process of moving toward a purpose. It’s the process through which we change, grow, and navigate the ups and downs of life, and how we cultivate joy. Thriving produces ongoing improvement in ourselves through mutually beneficial interactions between individuals and society (King & Defoy, 2020). Experts in the study of joy believe that joy is the result of a life well-lived. That is, a life that is full of meaningful accomplishments, personal growth, excellence, and virtue (King & Defoy, 2020). A 2014 study of opinions of leading psychologists concluded that a commonality in their research was that joy is the fulfillment of a desire critical to one’s own thriving or flourishing (Meadows, 2014).

Joy, unlike happiness, delight, awe, and other positive emotions, requires us to define a set of morals and values that orients us toward respect and responsibility to others.

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Joy Motivates and Directs Our Behavior

Because thriving is a process not an end state, thriving is movement toward strengths-based living and healthy relationships with alignment of ethics and actions. Joy results from our increasing ability to adjust and recalibrate to changes, demands, and opportunities. Ultimately joy comes from thinking, feeling, and doing what matters most and is ultimately right (King, 2019).

Several studies point out that many people experience joy through goal attainment. The reason for this is that joy propels us toward attainment because it gives us energy, allows us to push beyond our perceived limits, and opens us up to new experiences. In this way, joy rewards us for our actions. Joy signals to us what holds deep significance and motivates us toward life-affirming relationships and activities. In this way, joy guides us toward what matters by providing us positive feelings that prepare us to act.

From an evolutionary perspective, emotions like joy were developed to help our early ancestors survive, i.e., living in close social settings vs living alone. However, today joy orients us toward thriving. The action preparedness aspect of joy can align and direct us toward what matters. For example, joy prompts the urge to play, to push limits, be creative, and seek contact with others. These tendencies affirm and reinforce learning, self-regulation, social engagement, and meaning-making which are necessary to direct us toward purposeful pursuits and thriving (King et al., 2017).

In summary, joy motivates and guides us as we pursue our career and personal life choices. Experiencing joy provides us a visceral experience that activates and enables us to pursue life-giving and transformative choices. Joy increases our capacity for creativity, imagination, and connection. It helps us be less anxious and more tolerant. When we reflect on and act in ways that enable the feelings of joy, we can identify sources of joy in our lives and then intentionally pursue joy.

As we welcome the new year, perhaps it is time to make changes to make room for maximizing our opportunity for personal growth in the direction of the greater good.

References

King, P. E. (2019). Joy distinguished: Teleological perspectives on joy as a virtue. Journal of Positive Psychology. 15(1), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1685578

King, P. E., Barrett, J., Greenway, T., Schnitker, S. A., & Furrow, J. L. (2017). Mind the gap: Evolutionary psychological perspectives on human thriving. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–10. doi:10.1080/17439760.2017.1291855.

Meadows, C. M. (2014). A psychological perspective on joy and emotional fulfillment. New York: Routledge.