Too much Joy can make you ill. Too much Joy can bring the devil from within and poison you, leaving you with a Joyless soul. Smileless. Never to feel the ecstacy of a worry-free moment, of a clear mind or really good nap.

Don't rush. Have patience. Breathe.

Go back for an hour, a day—to your life. Worry about your children and terrorism and the wiring in your apartment building and the crack dealer across the street and the corporate merger that is sure to take your job. Stress. Chew your nails. Have a chocolate sundae, then ponder your arteries and inadequate life insurance.

But do so with faith.

We at the IOJ understand your life. We have been where you are—some still are. Yet all have faith. All of us at the IOJ understand. All of us realize that with the proper amount of focus and care, with a determined mind, in time Joy will come.

The trepidatious tone in this lesson is only a note of patience. There is nothing to worry about along your journey to Joy. Enjoy it. Slow yourself and smell the flowers. Watch the sky, note the stars—there are many. Take in their vastness.

But don't stop. Joy comes to those who pursue it. It isn't something that sits around, crawls up to you wanting to be petted. One must look for it. One must move in the direction of Joy. To move any other way, to stop along the path, to dally, is to move towards despair. Step forward, ever forward. Find Joy, understand the means to an end, your end, the Joyful end, and step.