When a time of inexplicable joy finds its way into your life,
the focus is on the joy itself. This is as it should be…it can
hardly be any other way. The joy surrounds you and lifts you and
returns all the happiness it carries to those around you. A
reflective joy such as this of course will carry a shadow of its
own. A shadow that is less brilliant than the overwhelming joy but
that is just as much a portrayal of it. That shadow of joy is a
contentment that runs along the bottom of each day. It is like the
frisky shadows a dolphin casts when leaping out of the ocean. The
shadow is a glimpse into what is real and then the dolphin
disappears into the ocean and takes its shadow with it. There is a
difference when you deal with an intangible’s shadow…such as joy.
When joy disappears into the ocean of life for a time, it does not
carry its shadow with it. No, joy leaves its shadow with you as a
memory until the next time it appears. So although the undeniably
real joy you experience periodically may seem to have departed,
look deeper into the part of your soul that was most touched by
joy. It is here that you will discover the contentment and peace
that was not there before. It is here you will find the Shadow of
Joy…