I'm going to be honest with you all right now.
My life is not perfect.
I have doubts, fears, challenges, heartbreaks, sickness, sadness, and anger.
I feel intense loneliness, snap at people, cry my eyes out, worry about my life, and make major mistakes.
Daily.
but through all of this, I choose joy.
I make a conscious decision daily to choose joy. To focus on what is positive in my life and not to dwell on what is not going the way I'd like it. To look for the little things in life that can make me smile. To thank God for these little things. To put the joy before the frustration, hurt, sadness, etc.
Sometimes I definitely fail at choosing joy, but I believe that there is something positive to be found in all situations. While it may seem miniscule, there is always something beautiful to be found and to be thankful for. I believe that God can make anything beautiful. That He takes something we perceive as ugly, horrific, degrading, frustrating, you name it, and can bring some sort of beauty out of it.
That is what I seek. To find the joy, the beauty, the laughter in life.
One thing that always makes me joyful, no matter what has transpired throughout the day:
A gorgeous sunset.
“I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift.”
― Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life
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