A prayer for joy

Master of the World, I want to be joyful. Not the fake joy of someone who smiles so that no one asks what happened, but true joy, the kind that rises from within and lights up the face by itself.

I have many reasons to be joyful, and I know it. And still I find myself dragging the day like a burden, moving from one thing to the next without taste, forgetting to laugh. I do not remember when I last laughed with my whole heart.

Let me rejoice in what I have now, and not postpone joy to the day when everything works out. Let me rejoice that I am a Jew and that I can turn to You, in every small mitzvah I do, in a kind word I said, in a song that reminds me of something.

And guard me from what steals my joy without my noticing: from comparing myself with others, from chasing after more, from the constant tally of what I did not get done.

And if there is no joy in me, let me at least begin it from the outside: to sing even when I do not feel like it, to smile at another person, to get up and move. Perhaps the heart will follow the body.

And let me bring joy to others as well. To see who beside me is sad and bring them a little light, because joy I give comes back to me too.

And let me remember that joy is not a luxury. It is strength. From within it, it is easier to pray, to forgive and to begin again. Let me choose it again every morning, even on a day when it demands effort from me.