Okay.

Shorty short post.

Everyone asks me how I continue to choose joy. Well, I am not always successful. But when I am, these are the tools I am using to achieve my daily dose of best day ever joy.

1. Stop complaining. Seem simple? It is. Shut yo mouth unless it’s the good stuff.
2. Think of someone else. When I’m depressed or feeling sorry for myself, I do something for someone else. This gets my mind off of my own issues for a few minutes.
3. #thirdpartycompliments. This goes with the “it’s not all about you” stuff. Gossip behind someone’s back about them in a GOOD WAY. Gets your mind off yourself for a few more minutes.
4. Make a list. If you can’t think of something to be thankful for, go back to the basics. You can walk, you can hear, you can see, you have food, you have a bed…I mean, seriously, folks.
5. Get active. There is something to be said about being outside and breathing in the fresh air. Me, I ride my bike. Obsessively (100 miles a week). But if you have a hobby, it helps you get your mind off (you guessed it) yourself. Working out also helps get the blood pumping, making you feel better naturally.
6. Do something good. Do a random act of kindness, a nice deed for a friend, make them organic cookies (I like those).  I think there’s a definite theme and/or motif in this post – and the theme is that serving others before ourselves gets us OUTSIDE of ourselves.
7. Consider the source. A lot of the time, the reason we have difficulty choosing joy is because of what someone else said or did. Ask yourself if what this person said really matters – if this person is one of the five people in your life that you consider important.
8. The week, month, year principal. Ask yourself if the thing causing you NOT to choose joy will matter in a week, a month, or a year. Because if it won’t, then why does it really bother you that much?
9. Bounce it. Get it off your chest by talking to a TRUSTED SOURCE. I call these peeps my FIVE. I have five people in my life who I really put weight on what they say to me. If I’m struggling to choose joy, I have them give me a big dose of reality (my hub-bee does a FANTASTIC job at this).
10. Just CHOOSE it. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and choose joy. DECIDE. It may seem illogical, it might be hard, you might be mad, but think about the alternative. Do you want to stomp around and sulk? Or have this deep internal joy that bubbles out because you MADE A CHOICE? Just do it. Seriously, I don’t know of anytime I’ve regretted choosing joy.

BONUS: Soak it up. Get in the Word, get into worship, spend time in prayer. Ultimately, the SOURCE of my JOY is THE SOURCE. I can’t choose joy unless I first choose HIM.

That’s it, sweet friends! Shorty short post complete! Want more of these? Sign up to receive them to your inbox!!!