Joy doesn’t come from what you do but from being present at what you’re doing.

Eckhart Tolle writes about the misperception of joy in his book A New Earth. I read this part today during my morning routine and it made a lot of sense to me. I immediately got up and started writing it down because I thought it’s worth sharing.

(All the quotes are from the last chapter of Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth.)

“When you say, I enjoy doing this or that, it is really a misperception. It makes it appear that the joy comes from what you do, but that is not the case. Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you. The misperception that joy comes from what you do is normal, and it is also dangerous, because it creates the belief that joy is something that can be derived from something else, such as an activity or thing. You then look to the world to bring you joy, happiness. But it cannot do that. This is why many people live in constant frustration. The world is not giving them what they think they need.”

Joy doesn’t come from the activities you do. Joy comes from within you. That’s the misperception of joy. The world won’t bring joy to you, you’ll need to bring joy it with you.

It seems as activities bring joy to our lives, because we naturally enjoy certain activities more than others. The reason lies in the state of your mind while you’re doing the activities.

Bungee Jumping is a joyful activity. Yes, it’s something special, but you’re also super alert and present when you do it. And that’s where the joy comes from. It doesn’t come from the activity itself.

It’s just so much easier to be present in such fun activities than in tedious everyday activities. Fun activities are supposed to bring enjoyment (expectation of joy), they require a much higher alertness (you’re automatically more present), and often you get in flow state because they’re challenging. All this makes it easier to enjoy fun activities.

But it’s not the activities themselves that bring joy into our lives, it’s our state of consciousness while we do them.

“Then what is the relationship between something that you do and the state of joy? You will enjoy any activity in which you are fully present, any activity that is not just a means to an end. It isn’t the action you perform that you really enjoy, but the deep sense of aliveness that flows into it.”

Of course it’s easier to enjoy fun activities because you naturally feel way more alive doing those compared to boring everyday activities.

Luckily, we can also bring joy to those boring activities. It just requires some effort and presence.

Here’s Eckhart Tolle’s spiritual practice that’ll help us bring joy to most parts of our lives.

“Here is a spiritual practice that will bring empowerment and creative expansion into your life. Make a list of a number of everyday routine activities that you perform frequently. Include activities that you may consider uninteresting, boring, tedious, irritating, or stressful. But don’t include anything that you hate or detest doing. That’s a case either for acceptance or for stopping what you do. The list may include traveling to and from work, buying groceries, doing your laundry, or anything that you find tedious or stressful in your daily work. Then, whenever you are engaged in those activities, let them be a vehicle for alertness. Be absolutely present in what you do and sense the alert, alive stillness within you in the background of the activity. You will soon find that what you do in such a state of heightened awareness, instead of being stressful, tedious, or irritating, is actually becoming enjoyable. To be more precise, what you are enjoying is not really the outward action but the inner dimension of consciousness that flows into the action. This is finding the joy of Being in what you are doing. If you feel your life lacks significance or is too stressful or tedious, it is because you haven’t brought that dimension into your life yet. Being conscious in what you do has not yet become your main aim.”

“The joy of Being is the joy of being conscious.”