“Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.”
Wendell Berry
Most people seem to think joy is something that just happens and only when good things happen. Often they think that one is either a joyful person or not. I think these thoughts are a bit sad and I think they are confusing joy with happiness.
It is true, we are happy when good things happen and unhappy when bad things come our way. But joy does not come and go. It is not dependent on circumstances or events. Joy is not simply emotion like happiness. It is a seed planted within us, and when cultivated over time its roots draw on the well-spring of our heart and it grows. The health and strength of that well- spring requires our vigilant tending and care.
I am usually happy and in good spirits but not always and no one would call me a happy-go-lucky kind of person but there is joy within me. Joy, for me, is the foundation of my life. It wasn’t always so. There were many years when I didn’t know joy, it wasn’t a fact of my life. I denied its presence. I won’t go into how joy became a reality in my life, I will just say it had to do with getting to know and spending time with, you know Who.
Joy is given to each of us.
Being filled with joy is a choice.
That’s a fact!
Patricia's Place 
Choice often depends on how much strength we have…sometimes we get slammed so hard our strength is depleted (temporarily, we hope).
Hope and joy go hand in hand and both give us strength.
I agree.
I’m so glad you’re back and spreading your joy!
Thanks!😸
😉
You’re absolutely right.
💖
🙏
I’m so glad you’re back. Joy is something that needs tending. Like watering a garden. Happiness is a decision you make to look grace in the eye acknowledging her presence. I’m as melancholy as they come but seek her out whole heartedly knowing when she’s in the house. To quote Anne Lamott. I don’t understand the mystery of grace, only that it meets us where we are and never leaves us where it found us. Wonderful litany on love in all its guises. 🙏
Thank you, it’s good to be writing again. You are right the seed planted must be watered for it to grow and bloom. Anne Lamott…always makes sense!
We love Anne. 🙂
And Patricia. 🙂
Only in my dreams.😼
You’re the best.
You have the gift of encouragement! Thank you for sharing it with me, my friend.
I’m sincere. You write so beautifully. 🙂
I know Him very well. I thank Him everyday for my joy and filling it. God has a way of bringing Joy out of us
💖
Well said. It’s the finding it that’s key.
I linked this post to Awww Mondays. that kitty is adorable.
Have a purrfect day and week. ♥
We do have to find the key but it is not in a secret pla ce. Usually we just don’t look.Thanks, Sandee, I was just about to do the link but you beat me to it.