Choosing Joy
Winter can be a really rough season and feel stressful for many, including myself. I have a choice to succumb to Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), or overcome it with intention. It can be rough. My tendency is to daydream and plan escape to sunshine in order to feel happy and content. This isn’t always realistic, so I have to decide if I am going to allow myself to behave in a state of discontent or choose joy when I can’t get away to sun and heat. It is a daily battle. I have found that my diffuser, essential oils, getting outside no matter what, and a Happy Lite do help. With all the updated controversy with Vitamin D supplementation I have to rethink that as well. Since I am always looking for a solution I usually find one.
Choosing joy has been one of my solutions. My thoughts had been predominantly upon love and two months ago thoughts of joy just slid in there and have been teaching me many valuable lessons. I have found it to be a very powerful way to live my life. Life is simply hard. People can be challenging. I can be a real handful. Choosing to take personal responsibility for my own truth, emotions, power, thoughts, and allowing others to do the same is another way I can reduce stress in my life.
Let’s talk joy!
Many would like to think of joy as a feeling, but I believe it is mostly a choice. I have learned this through practice, especially recently. In the past two months it would have been easy for me to slip into victim mentality and feel bleh. In fact, some days I did, but when I chose to “put on joy” my whole mentality shifted and I could see things differently and feel empowered to shine my light even more brightly though my situations may have been bleak and frustrating.
Webster’s definition #2 and 3 of joy:
#2: A state of happiness or felicity
#3: A source or cause of delight
Joy can be a state of happiness and feeling of felicity. I can “put on” joy as a way of being. What does that look like for me? I can choose to smile, compliment, find the good, choose optimism, and believe the best in all people. I can choose to stand tall, look people in the eye, control my voice with love, choose to take responsibility for my actions, speak my truth, choose to allow others the freedom to be who they are, choose to let my eyes fill with hope and expectation. I do this by choosing what I think about. There is no doubt in my mind that we live out what we think about. If we think we are nothing and have nothing we live that out. If we believe we have purpose and something to offer we live like that. A crazy storm of life can rage about us, but we can still choose to offer hope, life, and be a refuge in the storms of life. If I want to live joy I have to think joyful thoughts. If I expect joy to just happen I may be waiting my whole life.
Since we are all individuals our source of joy may be different. I can only speak from what I know to be true, so I will share with you how I am able to be intentionally joyful. One of the great things about what I do is that I am also a MindNRG Coach, which means I am a certified spiritual coach. It is not my job to tell people what or whom to believe, but to support spiritual choices that bring life and reduce stress. So, I am going to share something personal since it is the “who” in my joy.
Who is my source of joy? Jesus Christ (Messiah Yeshua). How can I experience joy in the midst of difficulties? The Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh). I don’t need external experiences to line up in order to experience joy. I can draw joy from my relationship with Yahweh (God) who can empower me to rise above the mundane and frustrating situations in my daily life and circumstances. When I am weak His Spirit within me is strong and empowers me to rise above how I feel and even what I think and enable me to hear eternal truths that set my feet on a firm foundation which allows me to walk in fullness of life, hope, love, and JOY! I don’t have to depend upon what I can muster up or if all of my circumstances make me feel happy. I often fail at this, but I have an infinite eternal source of power I just have to choose to tap into it. How do I do that? I pray, I read the bible, I choose to practice and live out the words of the bible and demonstrate the fruits of the Holy Spirit. I choose to believe that the words of the bible are life and can bring life to others if I choose to live them out. Each day I search for areas where religion may be taking root and I rip it out and pray for the Spirit of God to fill me with His love and truth. Religion is sticky business and can ruin just about everything that is good and worthwhile. Religion isn’t just found at church. It is found in absolutely anything that becomes a dogma of life that demands others do the same in order to be good enough or “right”. I believe Yahweh gave us free will. I believe He hopes that we choose to follow Him and find the abundance of life He provided us through Yeshua the Messiah and the Ruach Ha Kodesh, His life giving and comforting Spirit.
He is the “who” in my joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Each day I get to decide what to think and how to live out my day. Choosing joy is making this winter a bit easier to endure.
Who or what is your joy? How do you keep joy in the midst of the trials of life? I hope this encourages each of you to find your joy and choose it, live it, be it!
May 2018 be a joyful year!!!