How to Keep Your Joy

How to Keep Your Joy (even when things go wrong)

It Seems Nothing is Going Right

There comes a time when everyone experiences a terrible period of failures in their lives. Relationships crumble; they get fired and realize that they have to train for a new career. At such times, finding something to be positive about or grateful for seems impossible because the only possibility one can see is an unending chain of misfortunes. But this is exactly the kind of experience that should inspire positive change in your life and personality. Rather than think that you’re ill-fated, pull yourself together and be grateful for what you have.

Be Grateful for Family and Friends

Jim Butcher once said that when everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching are your family. Not everyone is lucky enough to have great relationship with their parents or cohesive families. Nevertheless, when in difficulties, family is usually the first to comfort you through it all. Family and friends never let you down when the going gets tough.

Be Grateful for the Little Things

It’s hard to admire the beauty of the world when everything in your life seems to be falling apart. You forget that the little, beautiful things are all around you. The flavor of delicious cuisine, the smiles of your kids and family, the sunset and even the cool breezes; these are all little things that you should be grateful for. A small complement from your boss is a little thing that can boost your spirits and make your day better. The most marvelous things are given to us frequently and you just have to learn to appreciate them to feel better.

There’s Always a Choice

The fact that you always have a choice to make is something to be grateful for. The dawn of another day is a chance to make improvements in your life. When going through a rough period, there’s one of two choices you can make; keep complaining about your life is messed up or pull yourself together and keep moving forward. Even in the toughest of situations, you always have a choice. It’s sometimes hard to understand this because it’s harder or it requires too much effort.

Appreciate the Challenges and Negative Experiences

Believe it or not, one of the most critical elements of handling difficulties is to appreciate the negative experiences. It’s hard to see the positivity in this but challenges make you a mature and more importantly, a stronger person. They build your perseverance, endurance and character. In fact, they teach people to appreciate the current state of affairs. And while you may not see it now, you will soon realize the contribution of challenges to new beginnings.

Things Could Be Worse

Everyone tends to think that their problems are the worst and due to egoism, you’re no different. Look around you. Someone else is in a worse situation than you are and so you are lucky. With little effort and desire, your problem can be fixed easily. Like most things in life, problems are relative and right now your situation may seem like nonsense if you compare it with that of someone else. Imagine what the worst scenario would be like and you’ll soon realize that your life is not as bad as you think.

​Appreciate Your Health

People tend to ignore good health unless they fall sick. It’s good health that enables you to accomplish daily tasks and live a great life. It’s by God’s grace that you are able to see the colors of the world, walk, breath or even move your limbs. Health is the foundation of not only your life, but also your personality. There’s no reason to be ungrateful for it because it comes at no cost. Life isn’t as bad as you perceive it to be because you are healthy so express gratitude for this even when your life seems to be falling apart.

​There is Always Something to be Grateful For

Gratitude is vital for coping with difficulties and hardships. You shouldn’t despair regardless of how terrible the times get. Every hardship in life comes with something to be grateful for. You just have to learn how to take not of these advantages and appreciate them to have a positive outlook on your life. After all, remember that some people out there would choose to be in your shoes right now coz their situation is even worse. 

​So be thankful and have an attitude of gratitude.