A group of nuns were troubled by the pressures placed on them to constantly radiate “joy.”
“It’s too much,” one complained. “There is sorrow in our lives, as in all lives. How can we be ‘always joyful’?” Discussion only deepened the quandary.
Finally, Mother Superior spoke. “We can experience both joy and sorrow, even at the same time, for joy and sorrow are not opposites. It is not joy and sorrow, but their opposites, that cause damage, for the opposite of joy is cynicism and the opposite of sorrow is callousness. Cynicism is rooted in the assumption that everyone is always in control. Callousness is the inability to feel, which follows from the fear of losing control.”