Overwhelming joy with strength and grace
Are you happy every day? It’s hard some times to be happy every day. Marriage is hard, work is hard, raising kids is hard. We can be physically and mentally tired. There are times were we stand up for our principles and that can be hard. Sometimes there are big messes and where do you begin?
With all of this, we get to decide how to show up. When life has beasts and angels, it’s hard to be happy all day every day. We stress, think and worry over things we can’t control. We get to choose how we show up. I choose to face the inevitable with a joyful and positive attitude.
I am happy every day.
Now, I’m not happy all day, every day. But I am happy every day.
You may not know, but my husband and I both work on the jewelry together. You can read about our story here. Most of the time, Ryan and I don’t work on the jewelry together at the same time. We would drive each other crazy. Today, I left him a note of what I needed done. 20 text messages later he insists on showing me how I am doing it wrong. Ryan is right and this improvement will help us be more efficient, but he could just fix it for me and be done with this project. When we do art shows or pop-up events he doesn’t pack up the way I want, which also leads to a lot of frustration. There are times that I am tempted to give up, but often things come out better with Ryan’s help. I can choose to be frustrated or amazed. And more often than not, at the end of the day I am amazed.
If' I’m not experiencing joy, then I feel gloom, frustration and hopeless. Life is not always bright and shining. I think over the past year we’ve all seen that things aren’t always joyful.
Life can give us a hundred reasons to cry, but instead let’s show everyone that we have a thousands reasons to smile.
We get to choose how we show up; stop focusing on how stressed we are and remember how blessed we are. Joy likes to wash over us with deep down, in your soul exhilaration and gladness. I encourage you to be optimistic, to laugh, to be kind and to be full of grace. The world needs more joy so make someone smile today. Also eat good food. I particularly like it when I’m eating a good supper and I get a really good bite with all the yummy flavors. I will say out loud, “Mmm, that was a good bite.” This brings me overwhelming joy.
Here are 8 ways to find joy in every day life:
Re-connect with nature.
Make opportunities for laughter.
Seek out positive people.
Think small picture and enjoy small moments that create more and more joy.
Volunteer.
Practice smiling on purpose.
Spend 5 minutes alone.
Search for a hidden treasure on eBay or Etsy.
Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Let’s break the habit. Let’s talk about our joys. Leave a comment below and share with me a time when you were happy or experienced overwhelming joy. Joy is rarely found in things, but rather is so often found in the simplest moments with those we love. A lot of my joy does come from spending time with Ryan. Often we are watching the sunrise and drinking Irish coffee (maybe that is the trick of overwhelming joy). When I spend time with friends or family, I’ll reflect at the end of the day and realize that I’ve never laughed this hard. I’m not happy all day, every day. But I’ve learned to to experience overwhelming joy during every day.