Choose Joy

Choose Joy

This has been a statement that I have chosen to adopt as part of my life for the past year and a half or so. A little background about me, I haven’t always been the most positive person. I was the type of person who without a doubt always saw the glass as half empty. If I had the best day ever then had one tough thing happen at the end of the day, I would immediately move towards thoughts like “this was the worst day ever”. When in reality it was a pretty good day, I was just choosing to focus on that one negative thing. I’m not really sure what got me to change this mindset, and I would like to think that it was multiple small things that led me to this. 

 The therapist in me knows that a lot of it came out of the work that I have been doing over the past year on myself, but I also connect it back to my favorite radio show, The Bobby Bones Show. This radio show is all about positivity and helping others and choosing to see the joy in every situation.  If you need a good listen go listen to this radio show, you won’t regret it! After listening to the show for about 2 years now I decided to order a gratitude journal from the female host’s non-profit The Shop Forward. It’s this cute little journal that has encouraging messages throughout, but for the most part on every page it has 4 blanks to include things that you are grateful for. To be quite honest I ordered the journal because I’m obsessed with the show, and what is one more memorabilia item anyways out of the many that I have already. 

 I started using the journal pretty much every day. I would write things like “my boyfriend for driving up to see me” or “for having a job even when it’s tough” or “my back pain isn’t as bad as it was yesterday”. These were things that happened every single week, but I had never given thanks for them. I had never seen them as amazing blessings, I just saw them as life. Before doing this I felt like I had set my life on cruise control. I didn’t stop to soak in the beautiful things that were happening in my life and I sure was not giving thanks for them. 

 I know some of you reading this might be thinking “yeah stay positive that’ll fix everything, never heard that one before”, but what do you have to lose? This small step of changing my perspective and giving thanks has turned my life around completely in the best way possible. It’s like I am finally able to appreciate life for the first time. Don’t get me wrong I still have my days when it’s hard to see the positive, but that’s when I really make sure that I complete my gratitude journal that night. That’s when I know I need to turn to God and thank him for all of the blessings. I actually have found myself literally saying “thank you God” throughout the day. Whether it’s after a meeting, or after getting another client, or just after realizing He is helping me make my dreams come true. 

 Changing my way of thinking is something that I now do on a daily basis. Instead of getting home today and saying “my day was awful”, ask yourself if it was truly awful or if you are choosing to see it that way. The next time you think that things are horrible or that life is hopeless, give thanks. Literally write it out, remind yourself daily, that even on the worst day we still have things to be thankful for. Change your way of thinking friends, and choose joy.