I want to tell you something important.
But I want to tell you in a way where it will sink into your pores, your bones, become part of your breath, so that you really truly KNOW it. That you will experience it for yourself. But this is the thing, you HAVE to experience it for yourself, to know it.
There is no short cut or hack or special pill you can take. You must practice it.
You must practice joy.
You must look for it and seek it, right now. Whether your life is easy or hard or busy or calm. You must do it now.
Because when you practice joy, it will be your default when your world falls apart.
Ever since I returned from England there have been many strange things that have happened. Some, you may know, from what I share on Undaunted Joy or social media. But there is much more going on behind the scenes.
None of it is devastating or tragic but I think some people would find it very difficult. I want you to know that I have not lost my joy. Sometimes it has been hard to find quickly. The reaction time is a little slower. But it is still there.
Recently after a difficult phone call where the person on the other side----let’s just say was not kind or truthful and I was the one to live with the consequences, in reputation, community and money---the person on the other end said, rather passive aggressively, “well I hope the rest of your day is better than this start.” I thought to myself, what a joke. You have no power over me and my day. My day was amazing before you called, and it is still going to be amazing.
And I felt sorry for them, that this is the way they think the world works.
The last few weeks, I have been reflecting on examples of people who held onto joy in the most dire of situations. We recently watched Shawshank Redemption as a family and I thought about how Andy Dufrane did not let prison define him or take away that bit of hope deep inside. I’ve read about a poet in the middle of the trenches of World War I who still clung to joy. And I’ve read of teachers who preserved the childhood of their young students in the midst of a concentration camp.
I hope I am never in a situation resembling these, but their stories let me know it can be done.
Joy is truly joy, when it still thrives when you are bent, pressed, squished and confined----in body, mind or spirit.
This is why it is important to practice joy now. Wherever you are at. Because when you do, it becomes part of your character. It becomes part of who you are. So that when times get tough, you look for joy to center you, to ground you, to give you hope.
I love joy too! 💛
Oh, friend, I liked the lines about not giving away our power or ability to find or have joy. Only God can fill that place as we lean on Him. Thank you for reminding us to look for joy, even when we have to dig way, down deep.