What is the opposite of joy?

While I was pondering how I could foster joy in my life I started thinking through the non-joy things I could take out of my life.

The obvious opposite of joy is sadness.  When I look up joy in the dictionary it says the antonyms are "misery, unhappiness, sorrow, grief."  But really these seem to be opposites of happiness, and I don't think that the joy God's Spirit brings is really the same thing as happiness.  I mean that I don't think joy is just a feeling we have, I think it is more of a state of mind.

So what in my life keeps away joy?

Anxiety.  This is a big one for me.  If I'm anxious about something I'm not displaying joy.  We have a big event coming up and things are not going as I had hoped for it.  I was feeling anxious about it.  Anxious that it wouldn't go well.  Anxious that people would think less of us because of it.  Anxious, anxious, anxious.  The Lord has been laying on my heart that this is not from him.  He wants to give me joy.  I've been working on letting His joy fill me and low and behold the troubles don't seem to be nearly as big as I was thinking.

Worry.  My, oh my how worry can zap away joy.  What will we do next year?  How will I pay this bill?  What if my child gets sick?  What if, what if?  I think worry is such a big one because it takes our attention away from the present and on to the future where there are so many unknowns.  But God tells us NOT to worry about tomorrow.  Instead we are to pray and give thanks.  This is living in the now and this lets God's joy come out in our lives.

Depression.  It is easy for me to slip into mild states of depression.  I get lazy and shy and simply don't get excited about things.  Simply forcing myself to get out and do things.  Get off the couch and get to work.  Play a game with my kids.  All of these activities help to lift the depression and make room for joy in my life.