Joy Comes in the Morning...and at Other Times Too

We all know the saying, “Joy comes in the morning?” Well….while that scripture is very true, we must also keep in mind that happiness can come at any time in our lives. It could come at any moment.
I've always heard that truism and childishly thought that joy would only come when the sun is figuratively shining, but that's not true at all. Joy comes even in our darkest hours...if we let that light in.

The problem with most of us today is that we attach our happiness to what happens to us or around us, waiting for the outcome to make us happy...waiting for daybreak. We base our happiness off of our circumstances. However, it’s important to learn that achieving a state of happiness should not be centered around what we have or don’t have, who we have or don't have...but our joy should be grounded in the now.

I should make ME happy now. You should make YOU happy now. Your tragedies in life can be triumphs if you focus on BEING happy instead of trying to get to a state of happy in the midst of life’s conditions. Don't depend on anyone else to bring joy in your life. Nothing is promised to us.

So how do we achieve that happiness? Here's how:

1. Have realistic expectations about what happiness is for you…don’t sabotage your own chance of being joyful with unrealistic expectations you’ve set for yourself and/or others. You know what you're going through and you know that it's devastating...but don't let that take away your joy. This too shall pass.

2. Pick which cup you will drink out of…will it be the one half full, the one half empty…or both? How about you choose to look at both cups as opportunities to quench your thirst for life and drench your life in happiness? Don’t be a pessimist. Be an opportunist. Take the opportunity to BE happy.

3.  Spend your time wisely on social networking sites…it’s pretty much a fact that social media rules the modern communication world now. There is an increasing amount of people (myself included) who don’t like to talk on the phone anymore thanks to Twitter and Facebook. However, we all know that with increased time on these networks comes increased drama and rumor spreading. The more time you spend looking at negativity on these apps, the less you’ll find yourself smiling. Every now and then we need to check who we’re connecting ourselves to and strive for more face to face interaction.

4. Prayer always works…this is my favorite thing to do when I’m feeling a bit discouraged. Prayer is a direct link to God. It’s our way of communicating to him our desires, our needs, and most of all the best way to show Him how much we appreciate him. Even if we just take the time to say "thanks" we’ll find ourselves feeling much better. Use God's Word as a statement to show up on the promises he made to us.

5. Tame that tongue…life and death lies in the power of your tongue, so why would you speak negativity over yourself and/or others? Stop condemning yourself and start asking yourself “how can I BE happy”? If God doesn’t condemn us for our imperfections, why would you condemn yourself? Be grateful for now and find joy in the moment.

When you free your mind of anything that is against your state of happiness and let joy enter in, you’ll start to realize that everything you thought was hindering you is now helping you move forward as a more grateful, more pleasant person.

Joy does come in the morning, but it comes any other time you want it to as well.