Thursday, November 17, 2011

Happiness and Joy

OOOOOHHHH.  I probably shouldn't blog after getting up at 4 am.  I probably shouldn't blog after drinking 4 cups of coffee and a cinnamon dolce latte before noon...but I'm going to!  Pretty much because... I'm cool like that!

I have been thinking recently about happiness.  I know, I know... such deep thoughts I have, but hear me out on this.  I have decided (although I would imagine someone else has decided long before me) that happiness is WHAT I am and joyful should be WHO I am.  I've written so much here about finding happiness, being happy, holding onto happy.  Those are all good things.  Happiness matters.  I don't want to face my days with a frown or be a cranky pants.  Some days aren't great.  Today I was training to open at work, which meant being there at 5 am.  That means (since I live 20 minutes away) that I had to get up at 4 am.  Let me just say... not happy about that!  I did it though, because for this season of my life it's what I have to do.  Happiness wasn't in my morning, until I decided to let it be.

I have been stressed about some things lately.  I don't want to be.  I want to pretend that everything is honky dory an I am not stressed... but I am.  I worry.  I fret.  I think about what I need to do and how to pull it all together.  I put a good face out for others.  Yet, I worry.  Stress makes me unhappy.  Worry makes me not sleep.  When I am tired its hard to put a smile on this face... Happiness isn't a part of that path.

Yet as I have thought more about it... happy is WHAT I am.  It's situational.  It depends on outside circumstances and how I react to them.  Happy is important, but I can't always be happy.  Sometimes its hard to get to that place.

However, joyful is WHO I want to be.  I want there to be joy in my life, simply for the living.  I have nothing that should take away that joy.  Things may not be exactly as I want them right now, but I have no reason to not have joy in my life.  Joyfulness is about choosing to be thankful and live that out.  Happiness comes and goes, joyfulness is a long term commitment.

I used to be afraid of commitment.  I'm not so much anymore.

So, I want to live with joy.  I want it to be part of who I am.  I realize that I won't always be happy.  Life is hard and sometimes things are difficult.  I won't always have a smile on my face... but I want joy to shine from my life.  I want to be peaceful, joyful, and real.  In the midst of my stress I want there to be a place of peace and joy.

I recently told someone I was one of the most laid back people they would ever meet.  Is that true?  Not in the past, but more so every day as I attempt to learn to live with a joyful heart... I want to embrace and share joy.  The happiness that comes with knowing exactly who will provide.

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