The Bible said, in Psalm 30:11, “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothe with gladness (KJV, 2022). This scripture depicts reaching optimal peace amid catastrophic events externally and internally in the human body. From caring for numerous surgical patients, I have discovered that Joy has become the main goal. Witnessing many social media contents in an attempt to attract new clients on the “New You – New Body” campaign is the mantra of the falsehood of reality after surgery. I believe Joy is calling us home because there is a void that only joy could ever fill. Experiencing joy brings peace when confusion and disappointments are racing to soar through the minds of surgical patients. How do patients know joy is calling them home if they are mentally distracted by the orchestrated vision of perfection? How can surgical patients reframe their minds to answer the call to joy and choose to accept openness to the various outcomes after surgery? Joy is knocking at the door of surgical patients but are they willing to diverge from the destructive rhetoric of perfection and easiness to answer?
How can surgical patients begin the process of answering the call to Joy? First, sympathetic joy is a muscle that has to be exercised. Not exercised in the form of a ritual but as an acknowledgment of a right to be joyful. According to Buher, joy is described as a psychological event (Gordon, 2001). In other words, it is reframing your expectations for openness to unknown positive or negative experiences, not worshiping the coveted results (Gordon, 2001). Secondly, acknowledging your inner vows of what is unacceptable because it terminates the joy that wants to come in. Sometimes, surgical patients are unaware of their loyalty to dark emotions attached to past surgical disappointments. According to APA, joy is introspection to reaching the most authentic self or reaching satisfaction or well-being (APA, 2022). In other words, for patients who are focusing on the worst scenarios before and after surgery, it couldn’t possibly happen. The calling for joy dissipates because their well-being has plummeted. Fourth, choosing peace when feeling fearful or stuck allows joy to guide you through uncertainty. Fifth, learn how to trust your body to heal how it was designed to heal. Lastly, learn to posture your mind and emotions to be at peace, not trying to control everything. Control everything causing patients to recreate insecure attachment to self.
What happens once surgical patients answer the call to joy? Surgical patients instantly experience a sense of belonging to themselves and the world. Surgical patients no longer feel an out-of-body experience because they are aligned with their whole self: mind, body, and spirit. Referring to Buher, a life, mainly when lived with enthusiastic joy, leads a person to feel at home and experience an intimate nearness (Gordon, 2001). Moreover, when surgical patients answer the call to joy, they feel inspired to bless the world with sweetness, gentleness, and positive productivity. They give more positive energy to every environment. Those surgical patients who are God-believers are likelier to have a positive dialogical relationship with God (Gordon, 2001). Patients who answer the call to joy are open to giving grace to themselves, their bodies, and others.
Conclusion
For everyone, patients must choose joy and practice it in every situation. Joy is not about recreating the falsehood of happiness and avoidant tactics but having the peace that whatever is wrong or brings disappointments, they can survive and thrive through it—joy calling you home because it’s impossible to be your best self before and after surgery. Joy is the accurate thermometer of faith, self–love, and endurance in challenging times to remain hopeful and open to whatever appears while healing after surgery. Will you answer Joy when it’s calling you home?