It takes practice to live in joy. In fact (at some times more than others) we actively resist the impulse towards joy. It makes sense to us that some things are serious and need a serious approach. It may seem that we resolve things by staying in the energy of the problem.
One important part of our practice is cultivating joy, especially near the beginning of our study. We are learning to stay with and build feelings, so that we can grow more adept at staying with every feeling.
At times, you might need to talk up your joy. You might say, "This is fun, this is funny, I really enjoy this, this is fantastic." Take as long as you need, until the feeling of joy is established in the body. When the feeling is truly established, you can drop talking it up and then continue to develop the feeling.
Go right into the center of the feeling of joy, and then let it expand, until it is everywhere and it seems that there is no self anymore.
At this point, bring it back in until it fills you up, and then circulate the feeling through you. The joy will begin to surface the negative energy and you will find that its not even negative energy, its just condensed energy, and it will dissolve and become part of the joy, part of the expansion.