Joy is sweeter when it is shared.
While we can and should find joy on our own, it is much easier to sustain and grow this feeling when we do so with and for others.
Our joy is not meant to exist purely in isolation.
Joy is intended to be a shared experience.
In fact, the more we help to create joy in the lives of others, the more we, ourselves, experience it.
This is why a life of selfishness turns sour so easily.
When we live a life based purely on selfish interests and intentions, we find that joy eludes us.
The more we we try to take for ourselves, the farther away joy seems to get.
If we continue to take and take, the emptiness inside of will continue to grow.
Nothing will satisfy our needs and wants, and we will be in constant conflict with ourselves and others.
The alternative is to give freely of ourselves in exchange only for the satisfaction that comes from doing so.
We cannot expect our investment in others to be returned to us.
That is not why we are giving.
We are giving of ourselves because others need what we have to offer and because some deep, empty part of ourselves is filled when we do so.
We give because that is where a meaningful, long-lasting sense of joy is found.
In giving, we find satisfaction and fulfillment.
In sharing our gifts, we discover our true selves and, for our true selves, joy is a fact, not something that needs to be sought after, collected, or consumed.