How Did Childhood Pain Change Kelly McGonigal's View of Joy?

Kelly McGonigal says joy does not depend on holding onto success, reaching a specific goal, or curing an illness. She came to that view because she grew up with chronic pain that went underexplored. Her parents were not interested in the medical system, so she learned early that she was going to be in pain all the time and that, on their account, nothing could be done. The question she was left with was what else there was.

She is not describing a person who has a success and then has to make the success feel permanent. Things will still go wrong. What someone can appreciate in a moment might be the success, or it might be a small connection with a stranger, and either one can be just as valuable right then. A life does not require the biggest success a person can imagine, or the biggest relief.