‘The “joy” in joyful effort is crucial. It implies… a rising mind, a happy and easeful mind, a sense of humor, even when things aren’t going well. The word effort sounds like a task, a chore. But joyful effort is almost no effort at all. It’s effortless effort – effort without strain or pressuer, just doing something for the doing of it, not for the accomplishment, money, or prestige. It’s the pressure to achieve a goal that makes effort effortful. In his chapter on joyful effort, Santideva says that most people perform tasks for the satisfaction they may or may not get from them, But for bodhisattvas, joyful effort is itself already satisfaction – they can’t be satisfied unless they keep on making such effort. The effort is the goal, so it’s easy.’ (The World Could Be Otherwise)
