Updated November 18, 2019
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Choose JOY today and every day!
Joy doesn’t simply happen. You have to intentionally choose joy, and you have to choose to be joyful every day.
Joy begins with gratitude – being thankful for all you are and all you have. It is not dependent on your everyday circumstances; Joy comes from deep within your soul.
It is finding beauty, happiness, and contentment in everyday things. The more grateful you are on a daily basis, the more joyful you will also be.
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Start your day with Gratitude
Upon awakening each morning, let your first thoughts be of gratitude. Say “thank you” for some of the things or people that are important to you….. your family, your health, the rain, for example.
Even just saying the words “thank you” will raise your gratefulness and also your joy. This short statement will set the tone of gratitude for your day.
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Affirmations
Then say a few affirmations such as:
I am brimming with energy and overflowing with joy.
My life is filled with joy and abundance.
I always live in comfort and joy.
My heart is bursting with joy.
I am worthy of love and joy.
Even if you are not feeling “bursting” with joy, saying the affirmations will help lift your spirits and your energy. Or you can make up your own affirmations that resonate with you.
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Count your many blessings
In the evening before retiring, list 10 things that you are thankful for that day. You can do this in your mind before drifting off to sleep.
You will find an added benefit by writing down your list every night in a journal. The process of actually writing down these things helps to instill the thankfulness in your mind and in your heart.
Every now and then, take time to reread the things you have written in your journal. This will remind you of all the great things you have going on in your life.
Once you’re in the habit of CHOOSING JOY EVERY DAY, you will feel the change in yourself and the world around you.
And your joy is contagious. As you exude more joy in life, other people around you will begin to also feel more joyful.
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My Story about Choosing Joy
A few years ago, my minister spoke about joy. He cautioned us to watch for “joy stealers”, people around us who try to take away our joyful attitude.
You probably encounter people every day who do not want to see you happy. Everything they have to say is negative. Sometimes you will have to make a decision to limit contact with these people.
The scripture my minister was using is “Be joyful always” found in 1 Thessalonians 5:16. Not only has this become my favorite verse, but it is also my life mantra.
His message spoke to my heart and I launched a process of bringing joy into my life and everyone close to me. Today, my home is filled with joy sayings of all kinds. They hang from every possible nook and sit on every shelf. There is a constant reminder to, “Be joyful always.”
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Peace is Joy at rest
Sometime later, I heard that PEACE is JOY at rest. Yes, I do believe that is true. Joyful is a happy, upbeat feeling. Yet when I feel happy but quiet, that is a peaceful feeling. It is a refreshing energy to calm and soothe you. Your peacefulness also has a ripple effect that will calm others around you.
PEACE sayings have since been added to my repertoire and my home now exudes JOY and PEACE at every turn.
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Now it’s your turn…..
Being joyful is something you have to deliberately choose over and over until it becomes a natural part of your being. It takes at least 21 days to effectively form a new habit.
For the next few days, try listing the things you are grateful for every day. Before long, you will start to feel the positive effect this has on your life. You will have made CHOOSING JOY a new and fabulous habit!
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“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.”
~Marianne Williamson
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Related Posts you may also enjoy:
Finding Happiness in a Field of Dandelions
Living an Inspired Life Full of Joy
5 Simple Keys to Happiness and Joy
The Joy of Creative Living
3 Splashes of Inspiration for Encouragement
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WOW….BEAUTIFUL….A DELIGHTFUL GIFT….THANK YOU!!!💕💕
Thank you Pat! Wishing you JOY!
I absolutely love this! I am a firm believer that you have the option everyday to decide what your attitude for the day will be. Having a positive outlook is essential for a happy life! Thanks for sharing!
Katie, thank you so much for your kind words. Wishing for you a JOYful day!
I absolutely love this!!!! Our blogs are so much alike!!! I love it!
Jenna, thank you for your comment. I’ll surely look at your blog now. JOY!
I really enjoyed this!! Our posts are much similar!! 🙂
This is such a lovely post! I absolutely need to start implementing these into my daily life!
Cyn
http://www.cynspo.com
Louise, I just love, love, love your saying ‘Peace is Joy at Rest’ — a great new insight to read and receive in my heart. Thank you for all your blogs! They are so inspirational. One can never get too much ‘joy’ in any given day! Blessings!
Thank you, Beth, for your kind words and your support!
Wishing you more JOY than your heart can hold!
Louise
Yes, we need to choose joy to have more of it in our lives, Thank you for the timely reminder!
I love all these tips on starting your day with gratitude, daily affirmations. I love this. Thank you for this inspirational post.
I always think of the song Count Your Blessings when I see or talk about being thankful. Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done. Nice thoughts.
Great post! I do think negative things affect me a lot. I need to start focusing more on the positive. I will try to practice gratitude more especially first thing in the morning to shape my day, and perhaps in so doing, I can actually attract more abundance. These are great suggestions for happiness and joy.
Love all of this! Every day we’re given a gift and it’s up to us what we do with it. Choosing Joy is an important motto of mine as well that I hope to teach my children.
Lauren, I’m thrilled to hear that you’re teaching your children to choose JOY!
They will surely grow up to have a joyful heart!
Louise
I love the idea of waking every morning and acknowledging the joy. Thank you for the ideas on mantras to say!
I hope you find the mantras inspiring!
What a lovely post, this is so true. We really are the masters of our own joy.
The journey starts with us x
I love “masters of our own joy.”
Thank you for the reminder to choose Joy! I have had positive results with using affirmations in the past and need to remember to use that more often.
I do believe affirmations hold us in a positive space.
You are absolutely correct that negativity abounds and it is so easy to get sucked into a negative cycle. I too believe in affirmations and adopting a spirit of thankfulness for blessings. Since placing an emphasis on them this year, I’ve noticed a pronounced improvement in my life.
I am thrilled to hear how gratitude has improved your life!
This is how I try to embrace life. Thank you for the beautiful reminder.
Blessings to you!
Thank you! I will definitely try to list the things I am grateful for!
Yes! Keep your list in a journal. You’ll be glad you did.
I love this. I have limited contact with those who strived to bring me down and it is amazing how much more joy I found. I think you should do a post with all your beautiful Joy items around your home I would love to see that! It sounds amazing!
Jenn, that is a fabulous idea! I will work on it in the new year!
Joy totally has a ripple effect! I choose joy every day and if I am peaceful with joy then my whole world vibrate with joyful energy. You have explained it so nicely! Love the affirmations
I love the way you just explained joy, too!
What a great reminder! It’s so easy to focus on our worries and the things we are satisfied with, but I’d much rather go to sleep and wake up every day reflecting on the goodness in my life!
Such a sweet thought! Thanks for sharing.
LOVED this! I am all about choosing joy and finding gratitude in the big and small things in life daily. THank you for sharing this reminder of the ways to do it.
Yes, and the key you shared is in both the BIG and the SMAL things in life.
Really wonderful and inspirational. My favorite is I choose to be happy no matter what
Being happy no matter what will take you far in life!
Lovely post! I’m taking note tonight on the point of noting down what your grateful for before be. I’ve been trying to journal more but I’m a bit slack!
Journaling is hard until it becomes a habit. Keep working on it every day. Good luck!
Thanks for the reminders, sometimes we just have to reminded that we can make changes.
Yes indeed! Merry Christmas!
Thank you for this post! I needed this one today. I practice gratitude daily and yet now in the midst of the Christmas season I’m encountering “joy thieves”. I really needed your post of gentle reminders to start my day off right! Many blessings to you my friend!
Sharon, thank you for sharing.
Joy Thieves are definitely present this time of year.
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas!
Great post I really like the part about counting your blessings. We’d be surprised how blessed we are when we take note of the simple things.
Kimberley, you are so right. We all have so many things to be thankful for each day.
I feel like everyone should read this. It’s all so true. I have worked a long time on having more joy in my life and a big part of that was looking at all I do have to be grateful for.
Lora, I am thrilled that you have joy a priority in your life. And, I agree that gratitude is the pathway to joy!
How wonderful. I love this post. You are so right. We must choose to be happy. The world is so full of negative. Misery loves company, doesn’t it. It is too easy to get caught in all the negativity around us, especially on social media. But negative emotions are detrimental to our health. Stress is a factor in many diseases. It sends our hormones out of whack. Joy and peace within our hearts and mind is good for our health. Been shown to lessen physical pain even. We need to work towards keeping our joy and inner peace. Please continue to spread your message of joy. It is so important. Thank you!
Patricia, thank you for sharing your words of wisdom. You are definitely “on target.”
I loved this post! It’s very thoughtful. My favorite part is how you pointed out exactly how to do it – making it so easy to add it to the morning and night routines.
Jordan, thank you for your kind words.
Wishing you all the BEST!
Such great tips on how to incorporate joy into our daily lives. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Visit again soon!