Seeking joy

For as long as I have been able to form coherent, outside-the-box thoughts (which, according to my Google search is sometime after the age of 10(ish)), I have subscribed to the idea that happiness is a choice. And I didn't just subscribed--I crusaded for it. And, for the most part, that worked in my life.

For awhile.

There is something to be said for choosing to be happy despite your circumstances. Despite your mood. Depsite the crabby customers who think that because you have a nametag and run a register you are suddenly a little less human.

But even that thought process is negative. All of the focus is on the "despite the [insert crappy thought]" instead of on the "be happy." It's the same with the way we often approach love. "I love you, even though you forget to call me back. I love you, even though you're a little self-absorbed. I love you, even though..."

Throwing in all of those "despite the's" and "even though's" muddles the happiness and distorts the love. There is an wonderful scene in Valentine's Day in which Shirley MacLaine's character declares that if you love someone, you love all of their best and all of their worst. Not "even though," but rather all of it.

There is something to be said for choosing to be happy, but happy is not enough. Happy is easy. What I want is joy. But joy isn't something that you can just have. Joy takes work. It requires you to intentionally seek it out. And that is what I am going to do.

Each day I am going to seek out those moments that are so sweet they could only have been sent from the Creator. I am going to find them and I am going to share them here. Every day. Because joy is meant to be shared and spilled over from cup to cup.

So here's to a beautiful fall day, and here's to the next.

Happy Sunday, and happy hunting.