Choosing Joy

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep
choosing it every day.

Henri J. M. Nouwen

It’s a choice. It truly is. We have within us the ability to chose joy. It’s hard work at times; there’s no doubt about it. But it is well worth the effort. Joy – which enables us to see life and its challenges, its relationships and their complexities in a more affirmative way – is an ability to see the light, even in the darkness, to feel the hope, even when surrounded by despair, to find the promise, even when faced with disappointments, to celebrate the right, even when confronted with the wrong. Joy is a sense of peace and well-being, knowing that because of trust, grace and love, no matter what happens to us, we will be okay. Joy is not dependent on what happens to us, but instead is a choice to react positively and pro-actively to whatever happens to us.
 
Joy begins within us because we choose to be grateful, grateful for everything we learn, for everyone around us, for everything that helps us to live a good life of growth, of satisfaction, of enthusiasm and of wonder.
 
Start today by consciously finding things and others for whom to be thankful. That conscious decision, that choice, will begin to transform you and your outlook. That choice will truly begin to bring you joy.