Although I have been blogging for less than a month and there has been almost no advertising or marketing of the book just yet, I have over two hundred different readers. I'm happy that this blog is reaching so many people, and I thank all of you for helping make this possible. I know that I have a very varied readership, some with mental illness, some caretakers and family members, and some with no connection to mental illness (other than their interest in my book).

As such, I was wondering how many of you can say you are joyful? You needn't post a comment responding (though that would be cool too), but please ask yourself this. If you are, I'm interested in why? What is it that makes you joyful? And if not, why not? Do you think there is some way for you to become joyful? These questions remind me of some high school essay assignment. Well, I suppose this is a little thought assignment to all of you.

For me, I realized this morning at coffee that I'm incredibly joyful. Of course I have many things going well in my life at the moment, but I was joyful even when things were worse (such as when I was more symptomatic with schizophrenia). I'm trying to understand what has made me joyful, so I can share that with others. I am no better than any other person, so it is not that I possess an additional coping reserve that others don't have. No, not at all.

I think it comes down to how you interpret and understand the world around you that influence whether you will be joyful or not. It is one's worldview and one's cognitive appraisals (wow, that is a ten dollar psychology buzz word). I remember back when I used to view the world as a series of obstacles, one after another, until the final obstacle ends up killing you. I no longer view it that way, however.

Instead, I now view it more like a big game to be played. So long as I try to make the right (just or decent or moral) moves in the game, I feel that things will be okay no matter what the score is in the game as I go along. For me, in this game of life, it doesn't much matter if I'm winning or losing in terms of score—so long as I'm playing by the rules (or attempting to). That is because I derive much more joy from a playing fairly than I do from scoring a cheap goal. I suppose when the game comes to an end, I will be okay because I know the referee, and he has promised me more playing time on a better field.