303 thoughts on “From the Seriousness of Life to Joie de Vivre”

1. “Looking back on my life now as a 54 year old woman I can see that the big bubble of joy I feel inside me has been there all along and has been patiently waiting to come out and to be expressed in full in every minute of every day.” This is the beauty, that joy is inherently ours, we just have come to believe that it is only happening in certain moments if at al, all the while it is a natural way of our beingness.

2. Even in the most serious situations our joy can be present and in fact the more it is present the less we will get bogged down in the situation.

3. I am learning that it is all there inside me and it is simply about giving myself permission to let the joy out. This is a huge revelation as we can feel joy at any moment in any situation!

4. Very truth Adam I used to get so frustrated with adults when they treated me like people treat a puppy. There was times as a child ,when I used to look at adult and think whats happened to them.

5. So true it looks like we socialise the joy of simply being, out of us. Fortunate it is a simple return to choose to connect to the quality of love and joy within.

6. ‘Live in your fullness, in your ‘Joie de Vivre’ to feel and show the world all of who you are. The choice is yours!’ What a beautiful reminder, to not get caught in whatever is happening around me, to not go in overwhelm but to stay connected to what I know to be true within myself. Whatever I have chosen in the past, or even yesterday is no longer there, everyday is a new opportunity to embrace life in full and share the joy that is in me and you!

7. When I was younger, I always felt like needed permission to shine. I allowed myself to feel a control over me from many around me. This impacted how I viewed myself growing up. I have since learned to truly connect to myself and people and let them in. This enables a very naturally joyful way of being, which I find encourages others to join me in my joy.

8. Go for it Annelies, our world certainly needs joy, ‘I can say that I am ready, more than ever before, to show the world my joy – my Joie de Vivre! This joy is there to reflect to everyone in the world,’ and by this reflection remind others that they too can choose to be joyful.

9. Yes lets show the world our joy, ‘This joy is there to reflect to everyone in the world, to offer the serious people in this world an opportunity to connect with what is living inside them.’

10. Thank you Annelies, I enjoyed reading your blog again and could relate to this line “I started to live my life with this same intensity and seriousness.” Just walking down the street I can feel the intensity and seriousness everyone lives in, it’s very much the norm, and it’s almost like a rite of passage to adulthood that we cut the joy, silliness, and playfulness to earn the title of adult. I have read that there is now a trend for kindergartens to remove play based learning for a more structured academic style environment. This shows how we value a rigid, controlled, knowledge based learning environment, not just in education but throughout all of life.

    1. Yes, I have heard about this trend too and it only shows we value the intelligence of the brain more than the intelligence that is innately in our body and thus learn to override our feelings from a very young age.

11. It’s hard work trying to be something you are not, hence the seriousness we get bogged down in when we are not living true to who we are. Ever seen a small healthy child be serious for long? It is not in their nature as they are too busy just being themselves and joy is a big part of this as it is an innate quality of who we are and is one of the 5 qualities of our Soul along with Truth, Stillness, Harmony and Love. What this means is that this bubble of true joy we have each felt, albeit fleetingly at times, can never pop, it simply gets buried beneath a mountain of seriousness that we pile on top of it when we do not live in connection with our true self – our Soul.

12. “Everyone seemed to lack any ‘Joie de Vivre’ for life!” spot on thats how I felt as a kid, I wonder however as I grew up why I then fell into that same lack of Joie de Vivre and what reflection I provided kids growing up. Today I am re-connecting to my Joie de Vivre and am super inspired by kids including my daughter.

13. When we are connected we can’t but help be in the joy of life – it is our natural expression.

14. Your blog made me smile Annelies thank you…

15. I can relate with what you share in that I too had become serious in life and had to behave myself, ‘In this environment I learned how to ‘do’ things, how to get recognised for my achievements; it was all very serious and controlled.’ I can feel and know I am naturally playful and joyful, but still can be serious, thank you for reminding me it is as simple as connecting to the natural joy inside of us.

16. This blog is so relatable to me. For much of my life I have measured how much joy I will be off the reactions of other. In this I have viewed the world as hard and built my body up just as hard in order to protect me from the harshness. Which to me now seems crazy, it’s like when we tell kids not to hit back for it never solves anything. The same goes for hardening ones self against a perceived hard world. We never solve it, we only enjoin.

17. Annelies, your writing ignites the one and same joy within me. Joy is a confirmation of the energy we have expressed returning back to us. When this energy is true love, the joy that is felt is two sparks of light in full ignition. And yes – the world is hungry for this because it is our innate expression and we have withheld it for too long.

    There are some great quotes and audio on Joy here: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-joy.html

18. JS OH
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

19. One has to ask and wonder why we have accepted and allowed it to be normal to be serious when when you are serious all you feel is a tension of wanting to be light and joyful because seriousness is not actually a very plesant or natural feeling to feel. Perhaps the power and wisdom of this untapped joy would naturally expose how so many pleasure in the many unnecessary complexities and dramas of life?

    1. Some people enjoy being serious, some people love misery and heaviness – these can all give a feeling of importance and identification. There is a big difference between being serious and being sincere or committed. Equally joy is not about happiness – we have bastardised the meaning of words and very often lost connection to our awesome essence!

20. Thank you Annelies for expressing so beautifully the bubble of joy that we all have within us. For me the skin of my bubble is so thick it needs constant pricking, as it still not fully burst.

21. Like a magnet being pulled back to the north, when we feel vital and great, it’s like there’s an opposite force that comes in to drag us the other way. No matter how sweet we are, it seems it’s only a matter of time till we get pulled down. It seems so hard to be joyful and light. But isn’t that the greatest trick Annelies? For the truth is we are all being pulled up every moment of every day to live in a loving way.

    1. True Joseph, we are all being pulled up constantly but when we are caught in the illusion of what life seems to be and not look beyond and find our true purpose as in making life about light, a joyful energy we can choose 24/7, it seems hard (and sometimes even impossible for a lot of people).

22. I like the reminder that the joy we are seeking is not far away. It’s bubbling up inside just waiting to be connected to. Thank you Annelies for sharing how you went from serious to joyful.

23. I simply love being in nature and always find that this gorgeous sense of wonderment and joy just encompasses me and reminds me of when I was a little girl playing in the garden picking flowers and talking to the fairies and gnomes in the back of my garden. The joy and vitality of our younger years is always there it just takes one simple choice to stop and enjoy the world around us with an open heart and the innocence of a child.

24. A pertinent read for me today as I have felt a bit too serious lately and joy has been lacking! Thank you.

25. Recently I was pondering on just how light and joyful I was as a child and how much ease I felt in my body. This was great to feel and I really get what you are saying here about joy naturally being inside of us and seriousness is outside of us and not who we are but we can choose to take it on.

26. We are naturally joy-full – to not experience and express our joy is a disease and a very serious dis-ease at that.

    1. Yes, and the sooner that is generally acknowledged then the sooner it will be taken seriously (with joy).

27. Oh yes, life can be far too serious, as we get caught up in making a living and surviving or getting by. This describes how I used to live and be – being serious was the face I adopted. I am much more aware of this but still this shadow of being serious can so easily creep over me again when I drop my awareness. It is a constant choice to stay present in my body.

28. I am very joyful, I naturally enjoy connecting and appreciating and this has grown the more that I been observing life and not reacting to everything I thought was not right. There is so much support, sweetness and playfulness in everyday life if we open up to it.

29. In the search for recognition and achievements, we compromise the very thing that can fulfill everything we could ever want- that being the essence of who we truly are.

30. I used to get annoyed when people around be were being playful or silly. Such was my need to keep everything within me capped and to be serious. These days I am feeling the tension of serious much more and how releasing and freeing it is to be playful, joyful and silly. Reading this blog has me appreciating what those moments bring and how much they break up the dull, miserable seriousness so effortlessly.

31. Thank you Annelies for you unfettered expression of the joy that is innate in you and in us all equally – a very beautiful sharing that reminds us all that we have a choice.

32. It is indeed a very serious matter that so many of us choose to hide our joy.

33. Indeed Annelies the choice is always ours. I love the simplicity and truth of what you have expressed here, thank you;
    “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me”.

34. ‘So on reading this blog if you suspect that you feel there is a seriousness in life, or that you can’t find the joy in living and it doesn’t feel quite right, have a look inside yourself – what is bubbling inside of you?’ What a great question. What is bubbling inside you?

35. I used to call my self a serious person, but lately I am seeing my seriousness was a choice and with any choice, you always have the option to change it.

36. I know all too well the seriousness you speak of – I can be very serious! But what’s lovely is that in recent years, inspired by Serge Benhayon, I have begun to let out the natural joy within me. I can still get caught up in being serious, but less and less the more I choose to just be myself.

37. “I had to be serious in life and behave myself” brings back memories of being told to sit still, behave and be quiet! (basically stop shining!) which feels so rigid in the body. An experience that brings about so much tension and suppressing of a very natural outpouring of Joy that naturally emanates out to all.

    1. True Marion, we are asked to stop shining from a very young age and I still sometimes feel how my posture can be one of an apology to take in space, when I notice this it is just choosing again what I know is true, to shine and feel the joy of being here.

38. I have always experienced joie de vivre and my great trouble has been in suppressing it to make others comfortable and not overwhelmed. I did go through a stage of wanting to be ‘cool’ in my twenties but that soon passed as I realise that I could not master cool and that joy kept on popping up its head. Now I am learning to deepen this joy so that it is a true emanation of the divine.

    1. How much do we suppress to fit in and to be nice so other won’t have something to complain about us. I love what you say here Lyndy how you tried to be ‘cool’ and how joy said ‘hello there’ every time to remind you about your divine nature.

39. Intensity kills everything. It’s possible to take life seriously while having fun. Being intense weighs us down.

40. How about seriously joyful…I take life more seriously than I ever have, I feel that serious, although it can be connected to something heavy as can the word responsibility, for me, seriousness is about an earnestness and a commitment, and yet I am more playful, light and joyful than I have ever been. Taking life more seriously has meant for me more responsibility and a whole lot more appreciation. I love what you say about the joy of life, no more heavy, but light on our feet!

    1. I love what you have said here Samantha. You have voiced exactly what has been welling up in me about this subject of ‘seriously joyful!’

41. It is interesting how you share that you felt your choices in parenting were simply variations on a theme. And I love your end paragraph is a delightful reminder of where to look for a perspective that is true!

42. Thank you Cjames2012, there is a lot to reflect on in your comment, control indeed has a powerful effect on our health etc as you say. Joy would be a much better choice with equally powerful effects!

43. Thank you Annelies, I can really relate to the observation of seriousness in adults as a child, as opposed to my natural lightness and joy. I also joined the seriousness brigade for some periods as I grew and became an adult but it did not feel natural to me, it felt quite heavy and suppressive. I have also noticed being serious seems to be related to being an adult and is almost a requirement. When I look back I see that joy was my natural essence as a child, and as I learn to reconnect to that essence within me joy is a natural part of my day to day life again.

44. When we change our choices and feel the joy from within ourselves, and express from that love and joy we feel, we are able to equally share that joy with everyone.

45. Joy, as well as love and harmony is our natural expression. We have to spend a lot of energy to put a lid on these. No wonder so many of us are exhausted most of the time.

46. Annelies – thank you for this wonderful reminder to have fun and not be so serious! I have been allowing too much seriousness to creep in lately…it is time to allow our natural fun and joy to come out and express itself, for this breaks up so much heaviness that can creep in. After all if there is any seriousness and heaviness, then it cannot be from the Soul, for our natural way of being is light and caring with much laughter together.

47. It’s so easy to choose something like seriousness to avoid being the innate playful person you are. It’s like any ‘type’ of personality we buy into, it’s all a distraction, an opportunity to ignore our essence and be vulnerable.

48. One of the many wonderful things I have learnt through the joyful and loving reflection of Serge Benhayon is not to dim my joy and light because of the reactions of others or because I think it might upset them. We often bring ourselves down when others are miserable thinking how can I be so joyful when they are so miserable? But the most loving thing we can do is to be and express all the love, joy and truth that we are in full without making it less and inspire others as that is who we all are in essence.

    1. This is so true Nicola, the moment we dim or dull our light and lightfulness, then we are playing into the game of seriousness and allowing another’s way of being to dictate how we ‘should’ be. I have experienced that so many times where another is very angry or serious or upset and as a result I dim myself down so as not to make them more upset – in effectI have ‘enjoined’ them in their anger or misery! If we do this, then it is at the detriment of ourselves and them too! We cannot dim our light just because another is upset. This is of course with all due respect to whatever the person is going through (experiencing the death of a loved one, a family feud etc) – but it is about holding ourselves and this in turn can be very ‘infectious’ and support the other person out of their misery or heaviness. There is no need to compromise our light at any point.

       1. Thank you, our joy is indeed from our soul and to express that is to return to our oneness, to not express that joy (or any quality of the soul) is to be less than who we truly are, we then stand out separate to the oneness and are both identified in that expression and individual.

    2. Misery loves company… I have been around many a person who has not only fought to hang onto their own misery but also acted in a way that said they expected others to join them and become miserable also. Why would we choose for misery for self and prefer it in others when joy is on offer?

       1. We love misery because we love identification. Joy is not about self but all.

49. Lovely Annelies. Joie de vivre = time to get seriously playful.

50. Yes Annelise – ‘…there is a vast spring of untapped joy just waiting to be felt and expressed.’ And this joy is ever-present and possible to live through our choice to live in connection to our love that naturally resides within us all.

51. Joy is infectious in our world as there is little of it! Making this part of our way of living not only brings us closer to what we know life can truly be but also a great reflection for all that we met along the way!

52. Annelies this is a beautiful example of choice and how we can change our lives by making a choice to move from our joyful inner expression or to move from an age old belief or image that we have held for a long time and may no longer allow us to be all of who we are? When we explore our movements even if its just a small adjustment to our walk or even how we pick up a glass, we can completely alter the flow and quality of our bodies and that brings the joie de vivre to the forefront of our daily living.

53. ‘I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.’ And I am experiencing when I change my movements, so how I sit, stand or walk either supports the choice to let my natural expression of joy out or to supports to stay in the seriousness.

    1. So true Annelies, sometimes I observe how my body has become almost rigid as I have not moved it when I was impulsed to move it, and instead choosing to stay longer on the computer for example and over-riding my body at the same time…. Bringing awareness to my posture and making any refinements however small truly supports to bring me back to myself if I am ‘out’.

54. It is deeply empowering and life changing to come to a place where you truly know and can embrace the fact that each moment is a choice to either connect to the joy within, or give our power to and be controlled by the seriousness outside of ourselves.

55. I can so relate to living in seriousness rather than joy, and I can see many people around me doing the same having learnt to put a lid on expressing the joy we are at a young age – then looking for some ‘out’ time to let off the steam a little and call that fun. It’s a very much a work in progress for me to reconnect back to who I am in truth and let joy be a natural expression of mine again.

56. I love your beautiful blog Annelies. This line is a showstopper “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.” What a simple and gorgeous reminder that joy is a choice.

57. “Looking back on my life now as a 54 year old woman I can see that the big bubble of joy I feel inside me has been there all along and has been patiently waiting to come out and to be expressed in full in every minute of every day.” Beautiful Annelies. it is so easy to get boggde down in the seriousness of adult life, yet witnessing the natural ease and playfulness of children reminds us we are all born like this and it is still there just waiting to be un-buried!

58. Thankyou Annelies, your joy is utterly contagious and deeply felt – just as it should be for we are fashioned from such beauty but so it is for now that we have allowed ourselves to become bogged down in a way of living that is not living at all but merely existing. With this hum-drudgery comes an aching misery that is simply the suppression of our essence – the love, truth, harmony, stillness and joy that forever lives within us but is not always expressed out. Re-connecting with this magnificence is akin to rekindling a flame after spending years out in the dark and the cold. This flame is our undying love, lighting the world with the warmth of its glow.

59. I have been a ‘super serious sally’ for most of my teenage years and adulthood and still go into it at times. Reading this reminded me of the fact that I am starting to let out this joy for life, I have had moments of it but there is a sense of sadness for keeping those moments to just that – moments, and not an everyday experience. I know it’s within me so I am curious, what am I still allowing to keep this joy locked away? and often those types of questioned get answered when I just step out and express my love and joy for life. So the answer need not be in words but answered by letting my joy out and shine.

60. Thank you Annelies for this powerful reminder of the responsibility we all have of reflecting the light of who we are, through the lives we live. Embracing this responsibility is a joy, as we are simply surrendering to living the joy of who we are in essence. We are all role models in our own right and through living in connection to who we are, we naturally reflect that there is a way that we can live with joy in our lives every day, simply by being ourselves.

61. The natural joy of a child is so delightfully engaging and uplifting it is a sad refection on where we have gotten to as a humanity when this is something that is not fostered and revered by all. While some do take delight in it at times or with the very young, it is definitely not something that is valued as an inherent trait. Great to read blogs like this and bring back the expression of joy and playfulness in grown-ups.

62. Joy is a choice and lately I have been feeling how much energy, force it costs to be serious. It gives a pressure, a tension in my body which makes me and my whole system anxious. The moment I was stopped by something that happened as a result of all this, I came back to the connection with myself and felt the horrible consequences of what I have left behind that day (and my body needed to recover). It is not about laughing and smiling all day but about being connected with God and appreciating the light I am and bring to the world, a joy to feel within me.

63. I can feel how I took on the belief that being ‘grown-up’ meant being serious and I bought into this big time. I am now recognising the amount of dis-ease this has caused me and am loving taking the medicine of ever increasing doses of joy.

64. I love the reminder to re-connect to the joy that is constantly bubbling away inside me and can feel how much energy I have expended over the years putting on a serious face to fit in when so often tapping into the well of joy and being playful would have lightened whatever situation it was for everyone concerned.

65. “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.” Such a great line, as it fosters responsibility and for us to look at our choices, be aware of them and know we can live that job at any time we feel to.

66. There is much joy naturally inside and I too have observed the ‘seriousness’ that I have allowed to take over my life – it is as though one has to be serious to be taken seriously – what the world needs is more joy and it is time to live our innate joy free from any expectations or approval now.

67. “what I truly wanted was to shine and to show the world the natural joy living inside of me” True parenting is to allow all children to shine and feel the joy of knowing who they truly are and it is never too late to rediscover our inner child and our innate joyfulness.

68. Thanks for this reminder Annelies, sometimes I can take things a bit too seriously and get caught in what should be done and why. Living like this doesn’t feel true though. What feels natural for me is living lightly, with playfulness in Joy. Living in Joy feels like an way of living that is full and expanding at the same time.

69. Giving ourselves permission to be joyful is something everyone should have. Thank goodness for the ageless wisdom offering that understanding.

70. “While I imagined my life as an adventure, in reality it was such a serious matter, and before long, living became something that I endured rather than enjoyed.” This feels so achingly familiar to me. There is another way, another choice and you have described it here Annelies.

71. The joy felt on the inside is like a body smile, but when I’m serious Annalies you have made the point that it’s on the outside and yes it overwhelms our joy. I know this feeling and sometimes it’s difficult the break that seriousness when you have gone into it, but now I clearly have the choice to connect …. And ponder what took me away from that joy, that Joie de Vivre 😀

72. “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.” l didn’t see it like this but it makes sense that the seriousness is on the outside.

73. A pleasure to read, can feel the joy within

74. This morning I woke up a bit later than usual and was a little grumpy as I didn’t have much time to get my things done, you could say I was in serious mode, your blog couldn’t have been more fitting, thank you for lightning me up and reminding me of the importance of joy.

75. Thank you Annelies. This is a truly gorgeous and powerful blog. How incredible it is to be reminded that joy is a choice.

76. Joy is forever living within us and is living and expressed from the inside out. No matter what is going on around us or what circumstances we are physically in there is a sense of inner joy available to us when our livingness supports us to connect and feel and understand the truth of what life presents to us.

77. This is such a beautiful blog Annelies. You have given a brilliant description of how there is a force, a way of life, that tries to dampen and quell our natural and abundant joy, making life into a very serious business indeed. We can feel the anguish of living that way and yet we choose it to fit in, to please others, to get approval and look like we are living like everyone else. And then, as you so astutely record here, we know this is not a true way of living so we choose another flavour of the same substance to try to change our life. Your God -given awareness has brought you to this wonderful point where the whole game can be seen. Thank you for sharing.

78. I love what you have said here about joy Alex. I utterly love it, and know it.

79. When reading your words what comes to me is that the word seriousness or that what we have made it to be is in truth not what it is. It seems like we have made seriousness a state of being that is strict and stiff and does not allow any room for being playful, lighthearted and in a flow. But what if seriousness is not a heavy burden but simply the awareness that we have a huge responsibility in life and that there is lots to be done? Then seriousness becomes spacious and allows room for expression.

80. I love what you are saying here Alex, it makes absolute sense and I agree with you that joy can break the ‘spell’ that only lets us see the realm of life as human beings and opens us up to see that there is more to this earthly life.

81. Seriousness is definitely a big one in keeping ourselves focused on the difficulty of life, while when we choose the Joy that is inside us all we are living the simplicity. As it is our true way.

82. Thank you Annelies for a great blog, I was brought up similar to you with the seriousness of life.It seemed that if you weren’t serious you weren’t thought of as responsible, a definite joy killer, this experience had also tainted the word responsible for me. “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.” This is the joy of being responsible, connecting to that joy.

83. We all hold this deep joy within us as children and then we learn in various ways to keep it under the radar, to stiffle it, to fit into society which does have such a seriousness indeed. And Annelies, I love how you have exposed that we attempt to adopt variations of the seriousness and think that we have succeeded in beating it, but really it is the same seriousness just another way of expressing it. And the false fun too that can be disguised as the drinking and partying (is this really that fun?)…What about our connection with people, our relationships with family and friends, and close ones…could this be what truly brings us joy, after we have felt the joy within ourselves and can freely share it with another…
    This is a great topic to ponder on, and for me a great reminder to just allow the natural joy to come out, to not fight it and to not resist it. Thank you!

84. You only have to watch these videos that go viral of when someone starts singing on the train and then people start smiling and singing or someone starts dancing the street and people start smiling and dancing…it shows me that the joy is all there, bubbling away, wanting to come out and play but so often our seriousness gets in the way. Let the joy out….as you say we have a choice to connect to our natural feeling of joy inside of us or the seriousness we take on.

85. “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me” I love what you write here Annelies, the intensity of the world can make us feel very solum and serious yet you remind us it is but a choice and we can always choose joy and love which is in fact our natural way of being.

86. ‘I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me’. When you put it like this Annelies it makes me wonder why we complicate our days and choose anything less.

87. I can relate so much to what you say Annelies. It’s only recently that I’ve begun to reclaim the joy that I am. All my life I’ve calibrated to the seriousness of others thinking that if I was light and playful I would be perceived as being flakey and wouldn’t be taken, well, seriously! That concerns me much less these days particularly now that I understand people need that joyful reflection.

    1. This is a great point deborahmckay – true joy is essential as it cuts through everything we invest in that is not true and it is actually our natural way of being. The more joy is reflected to others the more people have an opportunity to choose it for themselves.

88. I have watched my mother and so many of her generation resign themselves even deeper to the lives they have built and the choices that they have made. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. It inspires me so deeply to watch the elder member of the student community as they work with immense courage and commitment to heal their hurts and start to build a new way of living. The greatest ingredient in inspiring them to do this is the knowing of re-incarnation. Thus what we are founding in this life will be there for the next – so it is ALWAYS worth choosing to evolve.

    1. Beautiful Otto, it doesn’t matter where we are, how old, or what we do, there is always simply this chance to live with Joy and to truly be you. The sticky slime of seriousness is like a toxic sludge, a glue that gets in the way and stops us from playing in our life, with fun and light heartedness as a young child would naturally do. So today, we know its just a choice.

89. On the sliding scale of joy and seriousness, they are on polar opposite ends of this scale. Funny how we are naturally joyful being as seen in childhood phase, and somehow, life, expectations, beliefs creep in and slide one down to the end of seriousness. There is a way though of reclaiming and maintaining that sense of joy in- amongst the adult life, discovered through the modalities of Chakra-Puncture, and esoteric Yoga offered through Universal Medicine… and this deeply beautiful connection from within lived everyday is like a walking mini universe within this body, the connection to this is true joy!

90. You say how everything was so serious and controlled – that’s the thing with Joy you can’t control it, can’t control it and can’t kill it because it is who we are at essence.

91. Why should we withhold shining our light to the world? I can not find any acceptable reason but we are not doing it all the time. So something is stopping us from living that vibrant life that lives in all of us equally. Could it be that the holding in of that what so naturally lives in all of us takes a lot of energy to keep it suppressed and that because of this we are all so exhausted and not able to shine, even if we want to? Could it be that we have chosen a way of life that we are not because when we start to shine we have no control on where our lives will go? Have we fallen for a life in security and protection, where we think that we are in control of it and can give it a direction to images we hold, void of any connection with the true origin of our being? To me being playful and living from the impulses that come up, brings back that joy in life and sometimes feels a bit uncomfortable in people I am with. But when I can see that I do not have any responsibility in how people feel about me but only have a responsibility to live my life to the impulses that come from my inner heart, I can be playful and with respect to everybody I am with and shine my light in full, wherever I go.

92. I just re read my own blogs and some of the comments and I feel how connected we all are and how beautiful to share our joy with everyone. To make a consistent choice to feel the joy that lives in us asks my to be aware of my thoughts as they can make life heavy and hard. And I know this is not true, it’s an attempt to get me back in the struggle of human life but I can say no and feel my being and with that the joy enters my life time after time.

93. I can feel for the first time; ‘ there is a vast spring of untapped joy just waiting to be felt and expressed’, and all I have to do is give myself permission to connect to it and share it with everyone.

94. A great blog thanks Annelies, I recall a time in my life when I became rather serious and boring and I spent time with a friend of mine who is naturally joyful and playful. It was very healing being with my friend who expressed in this way and his reflection reminded me I was also joyful and playful I just needed to make the simple choice to also express in this way.

95. “and before long, living became something that I endured rather than enjoyed”…said the majority of the world. So many of us see life as this way but as you so beauty-full write, there is a natural joy in us that knows no bounds and can actually be part of our lives. You only have to watch people interact with videos of cute dogs or people laughing on a train or interacting with a young child and joy bursts out of your body – it is all here – just waiting. And it is up to us what and how we choose to live.

96. I have come to see and know that it is possible to be serious about things in a light and fun way. I used to think that to be taken seriously I have to be solemn and look a certain way. This could not be further from the truth.

97. Thank you- a timely reminder this morning as I had become a bit too serious and a bit too invested in things. A reminder to stay connected to something much bigger and feel the joy again.

98. We can use so much energy holding back our natural expression and calibrating to what we think best pleases other people!

99. Thank you Annelies. When connecting with our natural joy, life is never boring or dull and the simplest things, the everyday tasks that we do become a lot of fun. Living life in our head, or only being happy at certain times, like when we are in our bedroom shades all of the other aspects of our life. There is so much joy to recognise in reality.

100. This is gorgeous Annelies and thank you for helping me to confirm that the joy is always inside me whereas seriousness is something I take on and is not who I am.

101. Life but can be truly simple and joyful if we but allow it.

102. What I have noticed in schools is that we take away the joy and playfulness in kids, often trying to controlling them or shut them down. Could this be because it hurts too much, that they reflect our true light, playfullness and joy, something that we chose to walk away from.

103. I know for myself I bring down my huge joy, playfulness and light to not let other people feel how miserable they are. But this doesn’t help anyone, I feel miserable not being myself and then other people don’t get to feel our very natural and truly joyful, playfulness and lightness of being that we can all easily live everyday.

104. ‘living became something that I endured rather than enjoyed’ I can relate to this, when I get tired and exhausted my natural joy and huge playfulness for life gets forgotten about. I tend to believe the stuff I take on, but my joy and playfulness is always inside of me, it never goes anywhere, ever :-). It’s actually saddening and hurt us, when we choose to walk away from ourselves or hide who we are.

105. Dear Annelies, thank you for the gorgeous reminder to take note when life becomes a little heavy and serious and to look within for the lightness and joy which is always there.

106. What you highlight here Annelies is the fact to be serious and to be joyfull are all based on a single choice we make in each moment. Hence all those moments we spent in serious heaviness are all based on a choice of how we choose to live and what source of life we choose to connect to.

107. Thank you for sharing your joy Annelies. This is a beautiful and timely reminder for me to lighten up and enjoy life more.

108. For me, joy and playfulness is something that has been lost in the process of living. Strangely, it truly is part of living. How I lost it and how do I regain it is a great subject to be exposed. I think the clue Annelies, is when you mentioned the “gentle breath meditation”. This is something that bridged me back to me. From this connection, I have allowed my life to flow from what is true in me. Not the imposed upon roles of me. This is where I left my long lost friends – Joy and Playfulness.

     1. Beautifully expressed Concetta. They do feel like long lost friends for me also. Time to reconnect with them.

109. If I am being overly serious I know I am not myself. What a great indicator!

110. For me joy has nothing to do with being happy, looking forward to something exciting or having this event. For me it has to do with connection and with people. Joy is our natural state of being and does not need anything from outside. It is something to share with others and it keeps life light and simple.

111. It is so true, seriousness shrouds such a big part of who we truly are, the joy that comes from the soul, knowing life in every facet. No need to be serious.

112. A refreshing read Annelies and a great reminder to remember the joy we hold naturally within and to not let the seeming seriousness of life snuff that out. It reminds me of my mother, sister and I sitting in church – with the tension in the building all we’d have to do is glance at one another and we’d be in a fit of giggles which was the perfect antidote to the heaviness of that oppressive energy.

113. Amazing in re-reading this again today (thank you Annelies) I’ve realised big time since Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine came into my life I no longer ‘endure life’ I’m living life in a completely different mind set and living from my body is now what is helping with the return of true joy – it had not left me just a little overcast/overshadowed with too much ‘illusion’ of what I thought life was ideally about. JOY rocks 🙂

114. That seriousness often feels like a hardness, denseness and contraction in my body, whereas joy feels light and spacious. That lightness and joy naturally wants to come out because when we hide it or shut it down the body starts to de-form, as children we live naturally expressing and sharing this joy and it shows in their seemingly endless vitality. The same I have seen from Serge Benhayon and many others from Universal Medicine and growing amongst the student body. Thank you Annalies.

115. You’re right, Annalies – it is a choice as to whether we show the world the joy that is clearly bubbling away inside us. When one of us starts, our reflection of it can be contagious for others and we’ve all had moments when that has been the case, although sadly mostly short-lived. Your blog reminds me just how insidious our religious and educational institutions are in the way they boundary our expression through doctrine and belief systems but we have that magic ingredient, free will, which always gives us the choice to bubble over and express our true nature.

     1. I love that Cathy, …..we have that magic ingredient, free will, which always gives us the choice to bubble over and express our true nature.

116. We need to call out seriousness and lack of true joy as a disease, an illness and a condition that is not truly normal or healthy in anyway. To be truly well as a species, joy should be out norm not a rarity.

117. “While I imagined my life as an adventure, in reality it was such a serious matter, and before long, living became something I endured rather than enjoyed”. I recollect this being very true for myself UNTIL I came across Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. That ‘adventure’ is starting to be lived in a much more upbeat, inspired appreciative way not being ‘endured’ but lived and enjoyed. The ‘sparkle’ of joy is returning once more.

118. When Life gets too serious and arduous it means we have lost true connection … and without that essential quality we are no longer able to truly support anyone, including ourselves. So it is worth stopping and reconnecting before another step is taken, and thenceforth the steps forward in connection and stillness will allow the truth to reveal itself once more.

119. “In my soul, everything is joy” Love this Harry. When I limit this natural joy inside it does feel uncomfortable and quite ‘unnatural’.

120. Our Soul is everything and knows everything but will never be serious, our Soul is wise, playful and joyful and so much more.

121. Yes to be the one who brings the extra flavour to life, too long I have been waiting for others to bring this extra flavour and felt disappointed when they did not. Now I know it is up to me whether I choose to be me with everything that I am or to stay in the serious mode.

122. Yes Harry and I am becoming aware how we are used to behave in a certain way in different situations, for example how we are in the waiting room of our GP, or at our work. And why? It is great to bring light and joy where people tend to be very serious.

123. In reflective mode this morning I was looking at some of my past experiences of having ‘pockets’ of joy running throughout my life, asking myself why was this, as either side of those pockets of joy I was either sad, serious, unhappy, lonely or just so busy and gave very little attention to truthfully ‘feel’ anything other than exhausted/tired, focused on getting jobs/work completed. Joy never stood a chance. JOY is amazing, it allows space to flow and grow whether working, playing and communicating energetically as we do, so naturally. With or without words another can feel this joy emanating from within. It does feel divine. It’s like an invitation to ‘just be’ all that we are – in-joy.

124. “When I am with me I can en-joy being me” Love this comment Jill. One for my mirror.

125. I loved reading your blog Anneliese, and I can relate to the seriousness of the catholic up bringing. To be serious was equated with being a responsible person. I am now in my seventies and at last I am allowing myself to feel the joy that lives inside of me, I can be silly and have fun sharing me with others, instead of always being on guard monitoring what to say and not to say, when I am with me I can en-joy being me.

126. The more complex life becomes, the less fun it is. One of the things I love about Serge Benhayon is that he demystifies life and shows how it is possible to live in such a simple way, that there is always – always space for a silly joke.

     1. Love your comment Felix!

     2. absolutely Felix – its such a relief to drop all the complexity we create and reconnect to the simplicity that life really can be in every moment. it changes everything and is much less exhausting.

     3. and the moment things have become too serious, and the playfulness has gone, then I know i’ve lost connection to the truth, and am spinning in some false story, and thereby lost the simplicity and the joy that we really can live life in.

     4. Love what you share here Felix. I have so realised keeping things simple means for me not to get bogged down and go into so many details. I lose myself with the simplicity of the initial situation. In creeps seriousness. Totally agree there is “always a space for a silly joke”

127. Me too, Amita. Once we know we are joy in our true essence and we find ourselves caught in seriousness, we know that is not us in truth, so we can simply choose to connect back again.

     1. I agree Fumiyo – and the trick is not to get hung up over the fact that we got caught up in seriousness and arduousness,, that’s part of the too serious ! just remember that all we have to do is to connect and we can be back in the joy again.

128. There is an innate joy within us all and the memory of the love we are and where we come from. Life can begin to dull this awareness from any age and we conform to the expectations set outside of us. What you are confirming here Annelies is that the connection to the joy and love is never lost and can be re-connected to by our own choice. First there may be just moments of Joy but as we re-claim who we truly are through the support of the Gentle Breath Meditation this moment expands to be much more. Thanks for sharing your Joy.

129. A gorgeous sharing Annelies and it reminds me to not take life so seriously and to embrace the joy that is within us always.

     1. Your words really sang to me this morning Annelies – “This joy is there to reflect to everyone in the world, to offer the serious people in this world an opportunity to connect with what is living inside of them”. Lets go spread the word.

130. “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me”.
     There is certainly a well of untapped joy inside me Annelise, I read your blog and feel it moving! Yes the choice is mine to heal the hurts that dampen that boundless joy.

     1. Absolutely Shirl and also to know it is normal to be joy-full. There is no need to be serious. Being serious makes the world turn grey instead of a world full of colours every where, we just have to be honest and see what we try to do with ourselves, playing down instead of experimenting playfully and be who we are.

        1. ‘Being serious makes the world turn grey’ So true Annelies. Grey is definitely the colour of seriousness and its various shades – and much heaviness just lingers and can fester if too much indulging in this behaviour is played out. Having spent much time in those grey areas myself until Joy was introduced and in its lighter, sparkly, brightness made more frequent visits which just keep growing and expanding. Expanding from the inside out. Just watching children play is a beautiful example of this and quite contagious.

131. Joy has no limitations.

132. I agree alison, it feels like when we take life seriously it is a very small and rigid way of life, the world shrinks, on the other hand with joy our world opens up and the feeling of space and flow enters our life. Actually it feels like making our lives about people first.

133. A beautiful reminder Annelies of how the whole way we see life is shrouded in this seriousness to different degrees. We call moments where we have a bit less great, but when we connect to the truth we start to see seriousness is a serious disease.

     1. absolutely Joseph.. a serious case of seriousness. 🙂 when hardness replaces joy, and control negates acceptance, judgment kills appreciation, but the good news is it is totally reversable and full healing available starting from within, simply we need to reconnect back to our true essence, and then all false imposters can be seen clearly that don’t belong and we can release them, returning once more to our natural joy..

134. It is so important to constantly remind ourself of this joy within, as there are so many ways we are held away from it. I feel I am a very joyfull man, but often chose to not be, and get lost in the seriousness of what is going on around me. While I know it is great reflection for everyone when I live from this joy, then they can choose to.

135. That was a joy to read Annelies

136. I love this Annelies, I really relate to what you have written, life growing up for me was serious business, nothing to smile about, we had to be sensible and behave, I too went through the Catholic system, I was giggling about something as a child one day when I was told to stop my silly giggling, it certainly was a clamper, so any joy I had got suppressed, now at the age of 72 I am finding and allowing my joy to be felt and expressed, this playfulness makes life light.

     1. This shows Jill Steiner it is never too late to find our true selves and the joy that comes with that. Amazing to come back to your joy and playfulness and enjoy a different, a lighter way of living.

137. The world is full of children who are naturally at ease with joy. So why do we not listen to these little masters more often, when we can learn so much from them and the playfulness that they bring to just about every situation.

     1. Yes Shami, as adults we can learn so much from ‘these little masters’ it is a joy to observe young children as they play around and lighten up the world. When our seriousness is all over us we don’t see this anymore and even consider the playfulness of children as a nuisance while our seriousness is really the nuisance for ourselves to not let out the joy and fun we can have in every situation.

     2. Yes so gorgeous to listen to those ‘little masters’ of Joy. The sight and sound of them is so infectious and just invites us to join in – and to not hold back.

138. … This is one of the things that I really love about bringing singing to the community… The way people simply light up, the way their faces change, the way it feels like they let go of burdens that have been carried for so long, and the way the eyes light up. Definitely joie-de vivre.

     1. Absolutely cjames2012 singing and singing together brings true joy back in our lives and everyone can sing, no one is left out, never.

139. I have noticed when seriousness steps in it becomes more about the ‘me situation’ wanting to exclude others, body posture changes, thought processes become negative and movements are far from flowing. Joy on the other hand is expansive, light, body movements open and free flowing, clarity in expression and very open to include/connect with others wanting to share with each and everyone we meet. Awesome.

140. Great sharing Brendan. “Re-connecting to our joy brings back our spark and lightness for life” – everything then does become much more free flowing with no effort.

141. Living the joy of life as reflected from within, now that’s the way of the Livingness – great reminder Annelies. Nature and small children offer this every moment, all we need to do is stop, pause and breathe.

142. Thank you Annelies, enjoyed reading this blog again it makes me connect with the joy inside of me and it is a lovely feeling of my body surrendering to it.

143. I agree Brendan, seriousness creates a restriction on the joy that is available in our bodies the more joy we choose to live with the more light we bring to everything we do.

144. Beautiful Annelies. To observe the true joy of a child with the full knowing that we have lost ourselves from that same joy is sad. But to know that that same joy is still bubbling away inside us just waiting to be brought back to life is seriously the most awesome joy ever.

145. To not hold back – is truly joyful.

146. beautiful. When we are younger we believe life has to be many certain ways, because this is the way that we see all around us, but it doesn’t match up to the joy that is naturally living inside. Thanks Universal Medicine for showing us that, the joy is always bubbling inside and we can choose it at any time, to be the way we live in life.

147. Just by reading this blog I’ve reconnected to the joy within, thanks Annelies.

148. Annelies, how needed is this blog about leaving behind seriousness for joy?! The telltale kill joy I detect is when I feel heavy rather than light, narrow and tunnel visioned rather than expansive and the tone of my voice also exposes seriousness. Well worth understanding also why the investment in seriousness or why has seriousness become the default attitude for so many?

149. Annelies this line is wonderful – ‘Whenever I feel my joy is being suppressed, I choose to breath gently and connect with what I know is true.’ When I choose to be breath gently immediately I am drawn to adjust my posture, to then surrender and be more tender in my body and thoughts – only then do I have any kind of rudder to help steer my next choice.

150. Joy is for me like an internal celebration naturally overflowing to be shared, for all to join in and be a part of, that forever expanding love that requires no invitation – Like the amazing offerings we have reflected all around us, back from nature in all its glory and beauty.

151. Awesome Annelies, thank you for the timely reminder to turn up the joy within us that is screaming to come out, everyone wants it, everybody is looking for it and we all have it equally.

152. Seriousness is a big thing in our society today.. But I can feel that the way I am getting to know myself I am far from this continuous seriousness that has been imposed upon me. It is a joy to live a life full of me, so how could that be serious?

153. Seriousness is like a blanket that dulls all feeling. Serge Benhayon has shown me how to lift the blanket that was smothering me and share the joy that was waiting to burst out into the light. So much more fun to be me rather than tying myself in knots trying to fit in with everyone else.

     1. I totally agree Mary, joy is waiting for us until we are ready to let it all come out and that is really a lot of fun and more!

154. ‘For it is our ‘lightness of being’ that dispels the darkness in which we walk and our joy that dissolves the shadows beneath our feet.’ It is worth repeating your beautiful words Liane and my joyfull hands touches and massages a lot of feet in my every day work and practice, no coincidence.

155. Our natural joy is like fresh air, or like the wind is blowing through my hair and it smells like eucalyptus.

156. ‘Perhaps, like me, there is a vast spring of untapped joy just waiting to be felt and expressed. Live in your fullness, in your ‘Joie de Vivre’ to feel and show the world all of who you are. The choice is yours!’ Heartwarming sentences and amazing blog Annelies. I am so glad you were once again able to tap into your spring of joy.

157. I agree with you Joseph, with the feeling of opening the windows and also with the feeling that optimism is another straight jacket. Good way to put it, as I have always felt that optimism feels the pressure of having to be a certain way, having to hide the sorrow, the pain, the suffering, putting a bit of jam on top of the nastiness of life. It is an effort while joy is a spring that cannot but emerge from inside.

     1. Beautifully put Julia:’ joy is a spring that cannot but emerge from inside.’ This so brings the emanating, well-springing effect of joy – a completely different kind of being which emanates rather than being constructed out of the obstructing, confining material of the ideal or belief.

158. Love this blog Annelies. It is so true that we are taught at a very young age how the things we do is how we are recognised. It is so misleading and ‘very serious and controlled.’ We learn that the joy of simply being who we are is irrelevant, when in truth this is All that we are. And without honoring, appreciating and celebrating this connection to our essence, all that we do is meaningless as we are left feeling empty regardless of whatever we achieve.

     1. Indeed through the focus on doingness we disconnect from our joy and we become serious and controlled. What you say, confirms that tapping back into that Joy is the way back to feeling the fullness of ourselves.

159. Your comment made me smile Brendan, it’s true when we re-connect back to our innate joyfulness it does bring back the simplicity of life and puts a little spring into our step!

160. Oh god, I can totally relate to that. Feeling that the world expects me to be serious at school, and conforming my huge joy to that restriction. What you say is so true and so needed for lots of us, and very essential to see that the seriousness comes from the outside, I will definitely stick this on my fridge so I remember: “in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.”

     1. Yes Julia it is a great reminder to read now and then because knowing we have a choice makes all the difference in the world.

        1. Yes and that the seriousness comes from the outside originally, it is not us. That is a great realization, cause then we can connect knowing that what is us is the joy, it was there before any other restriction or influence from the teachers, our family, our carers, the world. Claiming our true nature of that bubbly and skipping little girl, that is still connected to the joie de vivre.

161. The idea that there is joy bubbling inside of us all is a new concept for me. Everywhere I look I see misery and often it is what I meet in the mirror too. I feel that joy is as simple as a choice when I read this blog.

162. It feels like ‘seriousness’ takes awhile to show itself, a build up (of what we are not) over a period of time. Whereas ‘Joy’ comes in an instant – and just is. No effort required.

163. ‘I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.’ Wow I really needed to read this today. Seriousness it is that has gotten me feeling tired and a little down-hearted. Yesterday it was my refusal to come out of serious mode that led to an argument. I have been connecting to a joyfullness at times but not anywhere near enough – and it’s a choice – a gift I could give myself and share with everyone. I shall be watching out for the serious monster now, forget the cookie monster – it’s the serious monster that’s spoiling the fun.

164. I have found that there is too much seriousness out there, and it need not be. To be joyful is infectious, and it makes the day fun.

165. Beautiful Annelies, I have found when life becomes burdensome and arduous, it is simply because I have forgotten or chosen not to connect to the joy within.. and so rather than living from that deep innate quality of being, I instead get played by imposed pictures and ideals, and run down from all the outside forces that bombard us every minute of the day. But it only takes a simple choice to reconnect and remember where we are from.

166. Now why would I want to cover that bubble of joy inside of me just bursting to rise to the surface? well I did I chose yesterday to do something which tainted that joy – feeling a bit heavier this morning with an element of seriousness – so how beautiful to read this blog again today and realise that nobody else is to blame for that popped bubble but myself – and I can choose to not repeat those destructive patterns as JOY is the only way forward for the ‘real shining light’ that I am to shine. Thank you Annelies for such an inspirational sharing.

167. “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me”
     The choice is indeed ours Annelies; thank you for the beautiful reminder to, in every moment, connect to our inner wisdom and joy.

168. Annelies this is so true to my experience as well. As a child I was so open, innocent and ever ready to express joy to the full. Now I teach children because with them it’s ever present. I’ve been far too serious and your blog comes at a pertinent time for me. Thank you!

169. It is so True Annelies, it’s almost as if we’ve forgotten to be joyful and playful. You’re blog is reflecting to me how much I’ve chosen seriousness over Joie de Vivre. I’m much better now, but still have lots of moments that I feel myself being serious. Your blog is reminding me once again that the Joy is indeed one choice away. The choice to connect to that innerplace where our Joy is waiting to be connected to. Beautiful. To never forget!

170. Reblogged this on florisvanderschot's Blog.

171. We bring joy to our lives by simply allowing our essence out for all and not keeping it in because it is there to be shared. Thank you Annelies for letting out your joy for all to see. Truly inspiring.

172. Thank you for sharing your joy Annelies. I can feel how the education system suppresses the natural joy of children and asks them to conform and perform. This can lead to the seeking of recognition for what they are doing and competition between others rather than following their natural joyful expression. I know that I get way too caught up in the seriousness of life at times and your blog is a reminder to express the joy that I feel.

173. This real joy for life is so inspiring, as we instantly feel its depth yet lightness and simplicity.

174. Yes it is so much up to us to choose to allow that inner joy to come out and play – holding back just builds more resistance and a thicker outer armour builds which presents a seriousness that is heavy like “the world is on your shoulders”. Joy feels so natural, light and playful – and my body feels much more expanded. Just waiting to be shared with the world. Such an inspirational sharing with us all Annelies thank you.

175. “I had a similar experience with the Catholic Church, …”
     I see such seriousness at the Catholic organisation where I work, occasionally there IS a giggle, but it’s back to the serious matter of life straight away.
     ” … what is bubbling inside of you?”
     I think from now on I’ll be having some fun at work in playfully finding people’s bubbles inside of them! Thank you, Annelies 🙂

     1. You being joyful with yourself will be an amazing inspiration Marian, they cannot resist

176. I know that feeling so well that you share with us Annelies ‘to show the world my joy’
     Living in my fullness joy is there in abundance – and I can so feel when others are not living in this way. But if just a spark of my joy can be felt by another – you never know it could gather momentum and trigger a spark of inspiration in them too.

     1. ‘Living in my fullness joy is there in abundance’ beautiful said Marion.

177. I am aware that I have made a rule to be serious. It feels very empty and hard and it keeps people at arms length. When I do express joy and be playful, it feels like sunshine is shining out from within and it lifts other people.

178. Unlocking the joy from inside us is a huge and life changing and healing. All the hurts carried about having to conform to reality in the many stages of growing up, are bundled on top of the choice to leave the true power and joy of our essence in the first place. That choice is the deepest pain, as it allowed all the measuring and compromise that life became. So reclaiming our full power and joy is healing the pain of that original choice for which no one else is responsible. From this true and timeless understanding we can at some point, choose never to leave it again.

     1. Wow Simon – I had never connected Power and Joy like that before- it makes perfect sense to me as it all comes from within us should we just choose to live it.

        1. I too have just realised the connection of the two. Very inspiring words to live with.

        2. I have had moments in my life when I have connected to different facets of me, power, delicateness, feeling expanded, feelings of love and joy… interestingly enough not all at the same time… but all of these things are the true me, and once I can connect deeper to my essence I know that with all of these aspects together I am awesome, as we all are. So yes, Power and Joy go hand in hand, and for me, lead to a deep contentment knowing that there is more to come, for all of us.

     2. This calls for a deep responsibility Simon. To take responsibility for the fact that, despite the education system and everything throughout life that has asked us to conform, it is still us that has chosen to step away from our true essence of joy. We have no one else to blame.

        1. While I love the equilibrium, truth and royal responsibility in this Lee (that we are the ones to choose to stay in connection or step away) I also give blame quite the run for its money, I will often exhaust blame by finding ways to be the victim, looking for reasons to self critique so that this too can be blamed – there are so many tricky ways yet the ultimate responsibility and choice is always mine. I can barely grasp the kind of love that must have bestowed our free-will.

     3. Simon, I love what you have shared here as it is our choice to step away from the innate joy within us and equally our responsibility to choose to connect to it again.

179. It is sad that we shut down who we naturally are, to be accepted to fit in and conform.
     Thank god you allowed yourself the freedom to connect back to who you were as a child.

     1. I agree Gail, and yes now Annelies is a beautiful, shining reflection to the rest of us that we are also Sons of God welcoming back are joie de vivre. This is taking the bull by the horns and saying YES YES YES to love and playfulness, in effect claiming our sweetness back.

180. If we stayed true to the feelings we had as a child life would be so joyful and so much more simple!

181. This is so true Michael – and to feel that in another is awesome.

182. Awesome blog, Annelies, about the beauty in Joie de Vivre. Such an important topic, which I definitely can relate to, – growing up with a seriousness instead of letting the natural joy and love shine out to the world. I grew up with a seriousness and also sadness, but, I could also feel, and I knew, somehow, that deep inside me there was joy, I just couldn’t reach it. I’m working on releasing that joy so that my Joie de Vivre can emerge. Thank you for a great inspiration.

183. It is wonderful to see it in others, I agree Sally and it is the receipt to know it is in all of us, otherwise we would not be able to feel this playfulness and joy in someone else. As some of the comments say joy is contagious. In my work with elderly people I always see the sparkle is still there and I love sharing this joy with them.

184. Yep the other day I was way too serious and then I spent the afternoon with a three year old who found everything fascinating and fun, spending the afternoon with her was a great reminder of how simple and enjoyable life can be.

185. Playing with my grandchildren and watching them play in their games with each other – I have noticed there is ‘no seriousness’ (only a gentle focus) in their play. There maybe the odd spat – but there is still ‘no holding back’ of how they are ‘truly feeling’. Giving their all in every moment of what they are doing. They ‘love to share’ and explain in full (great detail) and the joy of this is palpable. The infectiousness of this joy spills over – what a blessing. Now that child in me with joy wants to share this with you.

186. It seems to me we take all from the outside internally instead of leaving the outside be and claiming in full what we feel naturally inside to be the truth and joy. The world for sure needs the inspiration of seeing the natural exuberance of people living from their innermost truth and joy.

     1. Haha, love it Carolien!

187. Me too. I could feel a slow smile creeping up on me just as I read this blog because I can be WAY too SERIOUS. When I really do love to have fun. Great blog Annelies.

188. I feel this too Sally – when we see and feel that joy/lightheartedness in another there is an ease in that flow. There is no effort – just a halo of love saying ‘welcome come join me’ and to be a part of something that feels amazing.

189. So right you are in our choice to live from the joy within us- so many of us have forgotten that it’s there waiting to be shared – why do we hold back the thing that we are all seeking in life? Giving our adult selves permission to play is essential to a full and all encompassing life.

190. So true Gill, when I first began to feel this I felt somehow that I had to hide the joy I was feeling, as it didn’t seem appropriate to express it. This is something that I am working with and beginning to express what is there no matter the situation.

191. I admit Jenny I have been trying to get it right a lot and it wipes out the joy completely.

192. To withdrawn is a strong pattern in me too Marion. Sometimes I fool myself to say to myself I am observing but that’s not true. When observing I am standing joy-fully in whatever there is, with withdrawing I create a distance between me and others and there is no joy and no equalness to experience and most of the times there is a judgement too.

193. Absolutely Michael I couldn’t agree more

194. I also love ‘The Choice is Yours’
     This shows, in every moment, you can choose to live that joy for yourself, awesome!

195. Beautiful Blog.
     I have always felt a great deal of Joy inside me, but up until hearing the teachings of Serge Benhayon, I felt as though it was trapped inside me.
     Sometimes it can still feel that way when things can get difficult and a little serious, but when it gets to come out and be expressed it is just simply amazing!

196. It is so easy to get caught up in the wheel of life – your day dictated by the tasks that need to be done. When we get caught up like this, there is no place for true joy. True joy comes from bringing you to life. Feeling the bubbling well of joy inside you that Annalies describes and going in and with that to the day-to-day of life.

197. I can so relate to this Annelies – and by the way I saw you recently and you were absolutely radiant with joy – but for me I’ve always taken life very seriously – I find singing and dancing fun and I love doing those things but what I’ve noticed in the last few years is when I’m at work and I’m meeting people that’s where I experience fun and joy and when I look back I’ve always had that ability within me, it’s very natural – I just haven’t always chosen it because I’ve withdrawn so much in the past and avoided the situations that actually confirm that joy in me. It’s an absolute joy to have found that again.

198. Well said Annelies, There is absolutely this seriousness that is holding many people back from expressing the joy that is there inside of them and always has been. It’s unfortunate that this joy has been artificially re-interpreted to mean you need to travel, party, drink, hang out with certain people, shop, have lots of money and time off work to be feeling good… but true joy is so much more then just good… and it can be in every moment of your day regardless of what you are doing.

199. Great point David, I love what you have mentioned. Life is an adventure but if it’s a life full of man made struggles and seriousness then there is no accountability for those things being our choices when it’s just said that life is an adventure.

     The adventure would be far more fun if we were living the Joie de vivre which is in us all!

200. Great point Natalie… we don’t need to get to caught up.. when we don’t, the rest is easy… so the joy is easy to feel 🙂

201. Very relatable Simone, it really is our choice.. too many of us feel like we are ‘victims’ to the world and life throws us things to struggle with when really we can choose ‘joy’ by choosing to commit to our lives in full and express ourselves and out true nature. This will then change the way we do handle difficult situations. We wont be choosing joy though if we instead hold onto grudges, emotions, reactions and shut people out.

     1. I agree arieljoymuntelwit, I too am discovering that choosing to commit to life in full and living all that I am, is indeed very joyful. Quite a contrast to my previous existence of waiting for life and people to prove itself / themselves to me before I was prepared to share my joy. And a pretty painful existence it was. And I’ve got a permanent expression mark of seriousness in the middle of my forehead to prove it!

202. I also believed in “being serious”. To be taken seriously, maybe. No more being treated like someone you can play games with. A kind of protection.
     But your blog is truly a gentle wake-up call. A call of action for joy and lightness. I love it*

203. The world is full of people trying to be happy, only to find that it doesn’t last or is dependent on something outside of us that we cannot control. The feeling of joy comes from within, as you write Annelies and that is always available. WooHoo!!

204. There are many reasons why we choose not to shine out our natural self. As a young child we are all naturally in tune with ourself and express without holding back be it joyful state or otherwise. As we grow up, the world tells us – almost dictates on the way we should be in situations, even when to smile or not. In that process we miss out on us and the world misses on us too. We are all playing this silly game and missing out on the real beauty of each other. Really doesn’t make sense! Yes, it is a choice and we can make that choice to shine anytime regardless of age and let’s all make that change for us and for everyone. Thank you for this beautiful sharing.

205. I recognized being serious is a form of holding back- to not express my beauty and depth in full.

206. Beautiful Annelies, a great reminder of how when we let the seriousness take over we are actually saying no to the joy we truly are. Thank you.

207. Indeed Mariette, even the most challenging and confronting moments can be joyful if we allow ourselves to appreciate the deep learning they usually offer – mostly about ourselves.

208. Seriousness for me has also been indoctrinated from the Catholic Church and religious schooling that I attended. This is therefore how I have lived my life, believing that it is needed to get things done correctly and efficiently. However, ” Joie de Vivre” was no where to be felt. This led to me feeling depressed, and giving up on life. Annelies thanks for reminding me it’s a simple choice to reconnect to my inner heart through the gentle breath meditation that allows me to feel true joy.

209. That is also my experience Gill.

210. Yes very interesting indeed Carolien – institutions and belief systems that on the surface seem very ‘good’ and charitable are sometimes actually quite the opposite… It’s important for us to feel whether they are invested in actually supporting our natural way of being or diminishing it…

211. As adults, we can make life so very serious and heavy, getting completely embedded in issues and what is happening around us. Being with small children can bring us back to Joie de Vivre immediately, connecting with a twinkle in the eye, or a little chuckle, because it’s always in us too, just hidden a lot of the time.

     1. This is very true Gill, little children are great at living in joy, and there is no reason that as adults we have to lose this fun. Life can be productive and be joyful, in fact the two are perfect bedfellows.

212. I was raised a catholic and all I can remember was ‘hell’ and ‘damnation’. I cannot ever remember being told to appreciate yourself or that you were beautiful or to have a joyful life. It is a shame that many are not brought up feeling joy, or that they are beautiful, loving, and well worth appreciating.

213. Recently I observed that life was going super great, nothing at all to complain about, in fact I have been deeply appreciating myself and my life but I could not feel the joy every day. I talked to a practitioner about this and from our conversation I could see how I was being the ‘ernest’ student …couldn’t fault me… committed to any thing that was needed to be done….except no joy in ernest. When I realised this I decided to lighten up and the joy has re-ignited.

214. In re-reading this awesome blog I clearly remember as a child (3-5 years old) when out with my parents how I used to respond/behave to the adults who came over to chat with us. Some I would hide away from behind my parents legs and others I would want to keep them chatting and join in. As children I feel we have an instant joy button, and those we feel who are not going to join in with that joy we just do not want to know about it or be a part of anything less. Becoming an adult is another story.

215. Seriousness seems to be there at every turn if we don’t choose otherwise. And even when we think we aren’t being serious and are actually being ‘free’ and ‘having fun’ another imposter can arrive, disguised and masked. This one being the imposter called irresponsibility. It may look different, it may appear less serious, but still there is no true joy.

     1. Thank you Vicky, you are so right, irresponsibility comes in when we are only concerned to get some relief of the tension, when we are way too serious. Having fun and going for excitement is always on the outer. This is never to compare with joy which is coming from within and has it foundations in the way we choose to live responsibly.

        1. Great point from Vicky, there is no true joy when excitement an ‘having fun’ is used as a relief for the tension and pain in life.

     2. That is so true, Vicky. It’s like in order to seek relief from the seriousness that is forced upon us we end up rebelling against it and indulging in things that do not truly support us or bring us joy.

     3. Absolutely spot on Vicky… we have to be clear on which is which, whether we are living our true joy and expressing freely from our hear and hence responsibly, or if we are using ‘being fun’ ‘letting go’ ’embracing the child in us’ as excuses to not be accountable and not take responsibility.

        1. When we talk about “excitement” it can seem like this emotion is the same as true Joy. However, there is no mistaking what it feels like in my body. In excitement I feel lost in a haze and wonder where I am! I feel my heart rate increase, I often feel hungry and find it hard to wind down. It only comes on in reaction to certain events or meetings. The contrast is startling – true Joy has solidity, strength and clarity. It is playful, but also deeply present. I can be Joyfull at work, doing the dishes or catching up with friends. These words are completely different! Thank you Vicky and arieljoymuntelwit for the reminder about the importance of true communication and the importance of claiming back the truth of words.

216. Yes life can get a bit serious sometimes. One thing I enjoyed from the very start was Serge’s sense of humour and the joy he expresses doing what he does everyday. I have never lost my sense of humour and fun and it’s so good to share it with others.

     1. I agree Belinda. If there is anything about Serge that I found easy to connect with at first was his amazing silliness and natural joy for life in his expression.

     2. That’s so true Belinda, knowing you I can totally agree that you have not lost your sense of humour and your fun and cheeky nature. Getting to serious in life really spoils the fun and you are unable to appreciate the simple things in life.

217. Great call Amelia…when things are becoming too serious and feel that life is a burden – it just means we have forgotten our natural connection to the joy inside. When I remember this, the crazy stuff of life just falls away.

218. I love how little kids play in their own little world and love how you describe yours as full of joy. Great to remember not to get too serious as adults!

219. I remember feeling like I needed permission to shine as a child. I felt like I was always being watched and was not confident enough to shine regardless. I allowed this to control me way into my adult life. I still find myself confined by my concern of what others may think, but am finding that the more I connect to people and let them in the more naturally joyful I feel and I find that others often join me in my joy. Joy is there to be shared.

     1. I agree with you Rebecca, this blog does feel like permission to let out the child that’s in us all when we weren’t afraid to shine and be ourselves.

     2. Rebecca, I too experienced the same and still keep a close eye on the ‘watch brigade’. Funny but I never feel the ‘watch brigade’ coming from within me, always it is a preasure from outside of me. This has been great to connect with, as it makes it much easier to tell when it is truly joyfully me, or when the ‘watch brigade’ have slipped in with their lies. So much easier to say no to them, as they are never joyful.

220. That’s awesome Amelia – it is so easy to get serious when making plans, or thinking about the future – I love your “ultimate plan for the future now is to be joyful”!

221. Today I’m celebrating – I feel very joyful like yesterday and the day before. Mmm!!!!! 3 days on the trot! because for now, I choose to not play the game of being too serious about all the little things that can so easily build up and change the whole outlook of my day. This blog inspires me everytime I read it and to appreciate the joy within – thank you Annelies

222. I can feel for myself I often loose joy with the world when I make life about success and failure, living life nervous of uncontrollable outcomes, and getting quite serious in attempt to control them, rather than just allowing everything around me to just be, and feeling my joy as part of that.

223. A lovely reminder to enjoy myself everyday in anyway possible, Thank you Annelies

224. I love what you say here Ottobathurst and can so relate. It is absolutely crazy to think that we can and do keep the joy that is within at bay.

225. Joyful moments are the only true moments in life.

226. This blog is gold Annelies, It touched me deeply and brought tears to my eyes. Tears for the Joy denied and for the Joy that is. I too had a similar upbringing with the deadly seriousness of Catholicism. This seriousness seemed to me to want to destroy the joy that I was as a child and replace it with fear. Fear of God! How bizarre is that! And I agree the Steiner school was the same but a different flavour. I sent my son there and I was not impressed. When we know that the essence of God – Pure Joy, resides deep within each and everyone of us we can see how damaging these institutionalized so called religions and philosophies can be.
     Thank you for this great exposé.

227. I feel we don’t lose that natural playfulness Nicole, but shut it away in a box, sometimes bringing it out on special occasions, but often forgetting where we put it. Annelies’s blog was a lovely reminder to open the box, let the natural playfulness out – and throw the box away.

228. “As a child I soon learned from others’ reactions when it was OK for me to smile and when it was OK to laugh. Most of the time it seemed like I was expected to act serious but what I truly wanted was to shine and to show the world the natural joy living inside of me.” These reactions can so easily become ingrained and adults – including myself – can get so serious! Time to reclaim playfulness in everyday life and feel the joy that is innate in us all.

229. Joie de Vivre ~ sounds like a beautiful perfume ~ one we could all be wearing and with no expense required.

     1. Oh Gorgeous Victoria! ‘Joie de Vivre’ knocks over caffeine as the 2nd most traded commodity in the world. And it’s free – the best investment you could ever make.

230. I too remember wondering why the joy seemed to have been squeezed out of life, and got lost in rebelling against what I thought was the cause of it. Today, as a student of The Way of The Livingness life (while much the same externally) is full of the joy that I had once given up on feeling. Being part of the student body is a truly joy filled experience!

     1. Yes Helen, it is amazing that we ever come to give up the joy in the first place looking outside for what can always be found within.

231. Joy is a key to peoples hearts and one of the powers to bring lightness and simplicity back to your life.

232. What a gorgeous blog, Annelies! Thank you so much for sharing your joy with us. I love this line:
     “I have discovered that in each moment I have a choice to connect to the natural feeling of joy inside me, or to the seriousness outside of me.”
     So true, it is such a simple choice – to be joyful, which is natural, or serious, which is not!

233. It is so beautiful that you have exposed here that seriousness is what we connect to outside of ourselves and it is merely a choice… just as it is to connect to the joy that lies within and to live that in full. How we then want each moment to be is always up to us.

234. If we were all to recognise, our state of Joy or lack of it is formed by our very own choices and we chose to adhere to our own choices, we would live in the world you imagined as a child. It may take time to occur as I know I had to explore and am still exploring what choices are right for me and which choices don’t work for me. When given the space to discover this we all lead ourselves in an evolving direction.Thanks to Serge Benhayon and his loving example I am now exploring this.

235. Thank you for bringing the topic of seriousness and joie de vivre to light. What I’ve come to understand is there are many things that appear serious but can actually be very joyful at the same time. Since reading this your blog Annelies I’m starting to explore what seriousness actually is for me.

236. As a child I was taken frequently to church on Sunday mornings – remembering the whole preparation process prior to going caused a lot of tension both my brother and I would rather of stayed at home. We mostly sat at the back of the church, the heaviness of having to behave a certain way and as you mention the ‘expectations how to act’ was quite intensified. Feeling the ‘heaviness’ around me I would start giggling to lighten this heavy pressure, this would trigger my brother off too(and a few adults). It was called being naughty but I felt quite joyful and would look around the church admiring the sun beams coming in the windows or the beautiful colours of flowers in the vases. I took myself away from the seriousness of what I felt around me. Re-reading your awesome blog Annelies is bringing up many moments in my life where I often suppressed my natural joy to please others.

     1. Oh Marion, I can so relate to what you are saying here about giggling and seriousness! Not that I ever went to church but the same happened to me in the even more paltry situation at school (no beautiful flowers or sunbeams to gaze at), sitting in rows of old desks nailed to the ground with hundreds of years of students names carved into the old wooden desks – the place felt like a prison. We used to have to trudge up many flights of steps like a line of prisoners into class – all these beautiful fresh-faced children who just wanted to have fun. No wonder I just sometimes had to burst out laughing, unable to stop. No wonder we had a game in Latin where whoever had bought a cold chicken leg for lunch would throw it from friend to friend to have a bite, behind the teacher’s back! Anything for a bit of fun.

        1. Yes, church and school, Marion and Lyndy, both had that suppressing of the Joie de Vivre for me. I remember transferring from the playful kindergarten class, where we had the most gorgeous joyful teacher who was always laughing with us and took us out for our rest time to lie under the swaying branches of the copper beech tree, to the lines of wooden desks and implication that life was a rigid serious matter. It was an immense shock and I was utterly miserable and felt squashed and squeezed into a box. Learning to come back to this playful, light quality of my child is a wonderful thing at this end of my life, and I appreciate Serge Benhayon for showing me the way.

        2. What you have said here Joanchristine is so felt – about going from lying under the swaying copper beech trees with your joyful teacher to having to sit in a row of desks in your next grade at school. Trees have always played such a vital role in our lives, simply by their being and their standing. The very sound of their leaves rustling in the breeze, the beauty of their trunks and foliage, their absolute grace, have delighted us endlessly and have been there as a reflection of harmony! What a joy. No wonder children sit in class gazing out the windows.

237. How true Gill! There is nothing like seeing a dog playing and leaping to bring on the joy again!

238. Love the way you have incorporated ‘self neglect’ with ‘seriousness’ here Chris. They are first cousins that walk hand in hand. Joy, presence, Love is the way to go!

239. Bubbling away, always there, patiently waiting to be expressed – our sparks of joy never falter, and in truth it is simply a matter of time until we all work this out!

240. We are that joy and nothing less :o)

241. Gorgeous example Gill. Life really can be that simple.

242. It is so wonderful to feel the joy of another – when those moments of seriousness slip back in to feel another persons joy whether a smile, a comment or eye to eye contact – what a beautiful nudge to re-connect to the joy within.

     1. Every day is full of nudges, some I still ignore, some I appreciate and embrace wholeheartedly – the point is, the choice is always mine.

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