Do only what brings joy.

There is a quote I should have written down and can't find now - perhaps a reader can point me in the right direction - I believe it is from a Catholic source, possibly from A.G. Sertillanges or Peter Kreeft.

The gist of the quote is like this: "You may do what you want, as long as you really want it."

At first this seems selfish or hedonistic. But, upon further reflection, I believe it coincides with some ideas I wrote about earlier in this blog. I wrote that the desire for happiness is a kind of appetite that causes us to unceasingly seek what truly perfects us. Another way to word this might be, "Do only what brings you joy."

What brings joy? I find that joy comes not from the easy or comfortable way out. It doesn't come from the acquisition or possession of people or things. It doesn't come from the quenching of human or bodily desires and passions. Wise words from Fulton Sheen:

The modern tendency is toward the affirmation of the ego, the exaltation of selfishness, riding roughshod over others in order to satisfy our own self-centeredness. It certainly has not produced much happiness, for the more the ego asserts itself the more miserable it becomes. (Way to Inner Peace)

True joy comes from the emptying of self and opening oneself in a detached way to receive God's gift. True joy is recognized after-the-fact, as Scripture says "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

What about sin? Does sin bring joy? Sin may be doing what we want, but in the aftermath of sin, we eventually recognize that we did not really want it. We recognize that sins are choices we made in desolation, as all self-seeking and small-minded choices are. St. Ignatius' principle forbids us to make life decisions while in desolation. In desolation, we choose what we did not really want. Desolation is the time for patience and endurance.

In consolation, we make noble, generous, self-emptying choices, and even though these choices may bring a degree of suffering and hardship, in patience they bring a joy that could never be extracted from a quick-fix.

So, yes, I think it is true, and I wish I could find the quote again: "You may do what you want, as long as you really want it."