Don’t Let Life Steal Your Joy

This photo is not mine. I found it on Instagram and I can't remember the illustrator.

Just last week in asking people how they were, some responded that life and the week had been quite terrible or burdensome. I thought, oh my, why does it seem as if everyone is down?

We’re human and we have up days and down days where we feel inadequate or that the weight of the world is on our shoulders. People will let us down (we will let people down), our work environment might not be ideal, we might not be in the happiest of relationships, school might be difficult, or we feel we’re in a season where we’re not moving forward in life.

Oh, and, have you ever had a discouraging moment and your phone is on its last few percentage of battery life, or you have no cellular reception, or you try and call your best friend only to keep getting their voice mail, or you just can’t connect to anyone to get encouragement?

Sometimes we just have to encourage ourselves and put in some work to not let life steal our joy and overtake our emotions. I know I know- this is sometimes a lot easier said than done. And I understand, there are those going through a real challenging season and you’re making it minute by minute, day by day by on what little mental and emotional strength you have, because you’ve been hit with some stuff. I feel you J. Life will be life and we are broken people with challenges, and we will feel down- but as my cousin says, “just don’t stay in that season and build hotels, buildings, and set up shop there- keep moving.”

In those moments when we can’t get a hold of anyone, we should resolve to encourage ourselves by firstly praying. It’s our 24/7 direct connection to God and we’ll never get a busy signal from Him. Recite Scripture to renew thoughts (Romans 12:2). Take a walk to clear the mind. The mind is the powerhouse, so we have to turn our disappointing thoughts, negative situations, self-doubt, obscurity, and words from naysayers with Biblical truth about ourselves. Thoughts are powerful and can influence if whether we will move in a positive or negative direction. If you keep on living life will bring plenty more down days, but we should never lose sight that our identity is in Christ, not in people or our challenges.

Listen to this 10 minute podcast on Emotional Health (PART 1, start at 3.55 min) by Christine Caine.