Vorfreude

The German word Vorfreude describes the joy one feels in looking forward to a future pleasure, real or imagined. English simply has no corresponding term, so has imported this precise German word for handy everyday use. Anticipating something one is going to enjoy, such as a holiday or as simple as a walk, can be joyous and really lift mood, and this anticipatory pleasure or joyful anticipation is now sometimes even seen as a therapeutic technique.

A pessimist might discourage this pleasure on the grounds it could lead to later disappointment, but researchers find that optimists bounce back better from setbacks, and the positive brain actuations of vorfreude are well worth it. There is actually a German expression “Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude” which means roughly “anticipation is the greatest joy”.

In German vor means before or in front of, and Freude means joy or pleasure, with the same root word Freude being used in the imported German word Schadenfreude, which means taking pleasure in the misfortunes which others have experienced.  While Schadenfreude is sometimes loosely seen as an opposite of Vorfreude, the true opposite of Schadenfreude, as it does not refer to one’s own misfortunes, would be the Sanskrit word mudita which is usually translated as sympathetic joy, vicarious joy, or joy in the good fortune of others. So in a more caring world can we can look forward to the adoption in English and German of mudita?