Two Fundamental Ways to Live: Misery or Joy There are two primary paths in life:One leads to misery.The other, to joy. When you’re trapped in misery, life feels heavy. There’s no freedom, no freshness, no lightness of being. You can’t dance, sing, or create. Misery makes everything feel dark and burdensome—like a stone cloaked in shadows. But here’s the truth: misery doesn’t come from the outside. It grows within you. Take love, for example. It’s beautiful, expansive, freeing. Yet sometimes, even in the arms of love, a shadow creeps in—fear. That fear isn’t caused by your partner, your circumstances, or even the future. It’s the ego feeling threatened. Love challenges the ego’s desire for control, and the ego responds by creating walls of pain and memories of past wounds to justify its existence. It whispers, “Protect yourself,” even if that means staying unhappy. The ego thrives on separation. It tries to turn you into an