I often tell my friends and students the following joke I myself invented on the basis of not only my observations but also my own lived experience: "If a Chossid (a follower of Chassidus) looks joyless, something must be wrong with the way he has studied Chassidus. And if a misnaged (an opponent of Chassidus) looks joyful, something must be wrong with the way he has studied the Talmud." ;-)
If you happen to find this joke funny, it must be because you are familiar with the reality and feel that the joke reflects it.
I've been lucky enough to spend years studying the Talmud, first in a yeshiva of misnagdim in Jerusalem, and then in the traditional method of khavruse (pair study), until I encountered Chabad Chassidus and studied it for three years at a unique school in Jerusalem. Of course, I've had many opportunities to observe separately how these studies are implemented in the daily lives of both misnagdim and Chassidim.
I also had a special chance to spend five hours a week for ten weeks in a mixed group of Chassidim and misnagdim in Jerusalem, which eventually led me to the decision to start studying Chabad Chassidus. The contrast was simply astounding and was like the above joke - joyful vs. joyless people in the same room!
I myself remained joyless for most of my adult life. Then, within a few months of studying Chabad Chassidus, I started to feel joy and became joyful in spite of one life challenge I was undergoing at that time.
It took me several years to finally realize what Chabad Chassidus teaches both theoretically and practically: joy is the natural state of the soul, or our true self.
I've identified (and naturally practiced and hopefully internalized) at least two ways to restore this natural joy. The first, which I call "the short long way", is to remove negative thoughts of the ego, and the second, which I call "the long short way", is to remove the illusions of the ego.
The first way helps us temporarily remove the mental clouds that cover the soul and its joy, while the second helps us permanently remove the root of these mental clouds.
One non-Jewish nondual master teaches that if you are aware that you are asleep, you are not asleep. The same must be the case with the illusions of the ego. The moment you become aware that they are illusions, they dissolve or at least weaken, which in turn makes the ego lose control of the soul.
After this long short way, it becomes relatively easy to remove mental clouds every time they appear, until they stop appearing at all.
Now that I can remain more or less joyful, I have started helping others restore this natural state of the soul, at least temporarily, by sharing with them my spontaneous jokes, which, I understand now, help short-circuit their egoic mind temporarily and make their joy burst out like a dormant volcano suddenly erupting.
My sincere hope is that those who have tasted this natural state even temporarily will not be able to forget its taste and will be instigated to take off unnecessary "garments" instead of putting on what they consider necessary "garments", as everything is already inside themselves.
If you want to know how, I'm at your service. I may also be able to help you find buyers for the old "garments" you've decided to take off. ;-)