Quit Giving Away Your Joy

There are times in our life when we are robbed of our joy in living because of some uncomfortable circumstances and people. Joel Osteen in his website has this message: “You can’t control what people do, you can’t control what they say. You can control how you respond. My message is very simple: Quit giving away your joy. Quit letting the same people upset you. Quit letting the traffic, the delays, the things that don’t work out frustrate you. Keep your joy.”

At this time in my life, I have learned to embrace any unfavorable circumstance or stressful  people by reminding myself that whatever it is, I have God with me who is bigger than my problems or bigger than the people who stressed me. I always remind myself that I have God for my “backer,” my everything who never disappoints me. He is a God who never changes. People, either loved ones or people whom you crossed path with may change, but God never changes.

Problems and trials may shake my equilibrium, but with this Biblical thought in mind, “Be still and know that I am God,” I keep calm.  I just place my trust in Him because no matter how bad the situation is, life would be better in the end. God knows what is best for us. I always whisper in my heart, “If God is with me, no one can be against me.” And then I would feel peace in my heart and joy in my inner being.

One writer has this advice: “You have to take back your power. You have to stop letting others steal your joy, your happiness. Your happiness is dependent on you. Whether you choose to give that to someone else or give it to yourself is up to you.”

How can we stop giving our joy to others? Natalia Vela of https//thoughcatalog.com and the tinybuddha website have the answer:

• The opinion of others. The opinions of other people about you don’t matter. What matters is yours. Stop putting energy into preoccupying yourself with what others think, and put that energy into living your best life. People always talk. Life is lot easier by not giving a damn about those opinions.

• Being skinny. This isn’t to say to stop caring about being healthy or stop doing what you have to do in order to feel comfortable in your skin. But it’s time to accept your body, your image. Each body is different. Do what works for you, what makes you feel good. Be the best version of you. Don’t aspire to be the best of someone else.

• Start to say “no” when it feels like a “no.” Every so often, we say yes to things we really don’t want to do, or don’t have time or energy for. We want to be polite and keep others happy. But at the same time, we are being unkind to ourselves and making ourselves miserable. Saying “no’ is an empowering act. Our self-esteem will get a boost, because we’ll be honoring yourself. A “no” doesn’t need to be blunt and rigid. We can find a loving way to say “no” by saying, “Let me think about it,” or “I am not quite ready for that” etc.

• Start being more mindful of when you say “yes.”  Start saying yes only to things that serve you, bring you joy, pleasure or happiness. Often, when you say yes to something that doesn’t feel like a complete yes, it’s really a no.