I feel like I've been neglecting the very first word of this blog. Joy.
I do not lack joy right now. I am making great friends. I am living a life full of potential and passion and purpose. I really lack nothing.
And yet I allow little things to steal my joy every day. I allow a bad picture to cause me to run away from Facebook. I look at my body in the mirror and think only of the stretchmarks and weight. I am defined by the number on the scale. If my makeup isn't perfect, I spend a while trying to make it so.
But you know what? I'm good.
For the Lord looked at the earth and saw that it was GOOD.
And Jesus came that we may have life and live it more abundantly.
Allowing someone to steal my joy honors no one, especially not God.
It isn't easy to be joyful. I have more than my fair share of reasons to let a cloud hang over my head. And in some hours, these things defeat my joy.
But I won't let them continue to. I fight my way out. I claw and kick at the black cloud and hold ice cubes in my hands until the world returns to its normal, vibrant self.
I have a pinterest board dedicated to happy sayings and joyful phrases.Here's something that I find interesting: all of the quotes on happiness have something to do with finding, getting, gaining. Joy just is. It's a choice we make. It is a state of being. It is how we were created to be.
Here are some things that make me truly joyful. Yes, they are from all over the world. This isn't a case of wanderlust, this is a case of finding beauty wherever I go. And most of these things are universal.
1. Sunsets on the West coast beaches
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