Choosing Joy

Once, about seven years and a lifetime ago, a friend told me how she'd heard an interview, and person being interviewed, in the course of whatever thing he or she was retelling, said, "Choose Joy.".

For some reason, this really resonated with me, and these two words have been a guide for me, an anchor of sorts, leading me to have a better, healthier attitude and outlook, and greatly reducing any anxiety.

Really, just those two words. Why is this powerful? I don't know the whole science of it, but first, and simply, the word 'joy' itself has a feeling of, well, joyfulness. Joy. JOY!

And, more concretely, the semantics. Choose joy. Choose. You have a choice in whatever situation you are in.You can choose something, you have some control. Even if you cannot control the external disruptions, the painful or unwelcome situation, you can choose how you react. You can choose how you interpret a situation, and, in that, you can choose joy.

Here's an example of how it works for me. Someone doesn't call when they said they would. So, I could tell myself a whole slew of stories, that would end up in a downward spiral: he didn't call. He mustn't like me. He probably never planned to call. Maybe he never intended to call. Jeez he is so rude and has no respect for me as a person! etc...

But instead, I choose joy. First, I refuse the downward spiral, take a breath, and think of another posibility, a more palatable one, like: he probably left his phone in his car, or maybe he's just busy. That's ok, we can talk tomorrow. And then I could move on and go about me day without becoming trapped.

Choosing Joy works in many situations, whenever you find yourself starting to feel anxious, or when something not so awesome occurs in your life, try, actively, to see another point of view, another possibility. Truly, happiness is a choice.

Note: The image above was made using papers and elements from the Spring Has Spring kit by Mommyish.