Is it time to turn your sadness into joy? Maybe you just need a little motivation.

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You've just been knocked down for the 99th time and you're tired of it all.  That nagging boss of yours has just ruined your plans for the night by demanding you stay late and work and don't even think of taking Saturday off:  it will be business as usual.  If he has to be in the office then everyone will be in the office.  You have just been told that the hotel you wanted and thought you had booked for your weekend get-a-way has overbooked and now you are without accommodations for what was supposed to be a wonderful weekend away with just you and that someone special.  Just think all of this in one lousy 24 hour period.  If things get any worse:  OH wait, how can things get any worse you are thinking to yourself.

I get it.  It has been one of those weeks and you just need to escape and forget about things, but how do you do that?  When I find myself in one of these moods I am reminded that joy is something that has to be accepted in life and it is something that is readily available to everyone, and by everyone I include you as well.  There are many things that we can find joy in.  Loved ones, friends and family, a thought or memory of that remarkable experience not long ago.  The smile you received from that stranger who just happened to pass by you and you got the sense that he or she knew exactly what you were going through and it came at just the right time.

There are times when it seems like joy is something only read about in a book, and try as you might you have not been able to bring it into your life, at least not recently.  Every time you take one step forward it seems as though you have been knocked back three steps.  You can be in a group of people and you can see the joy others are experiencing and question yourself as to why you are not able to feel the same way.  Why has joy evaded you and why is it so damn difficult to escape the never ending on slot of demands, demands, demands on your time?  OH, I get where you're coming from.  I have been there, and it never seems to let up.  There is however a way out.  It will take some cleverness on your part, it will take determination, and it will require that you let go of certain things you may have been taught by caring, albeit, incorrect individuals.  If you are ready to turn your sadness into joy, then follow along, and let's make sure you never look back on those things that have done nothing but keep you bound up in sadness.

I was recently looking at some old pictures of a very dear friend.  He was very young and yet he has the same eyes and smile now as he did then.  In this one picture he was displaying this huge smile and you could tell he was laughing up a storm. By my estimations he was all of about three years old.    The joy was evident, and I dare say he was not aware of some of the things that he would go through during his adult life.  Most of us can think back on similar times and remember those moments when life was not centered around work, or bills, or sickness, or any other malady that might be here today. We knew that all our needs would be taken care of and that there was love for us whenever we needed it.  When did we loose this child like faith and more importantly why did we loose it?  When we were young, most of us, knew we would be OK.  We knew we would be fed, clothed, housed, and loved.  We actually took it for granted, because to be absent of these things just never came into our thoughts.  When did all that change?  We as adults have let the cares of this world dictate our joy, or in many cases the absence of joy.  We have forgotten that we are in fact entitled to joy, peace, and happiness and anything other than these were never intended for us.

True happiness and joy comes to you when you realize that you are here because this is your appointed time and everything you could ever need or want is exactly what you should expect in your life.  God does not bless only a few select individuals.  What God does for one will be done for you.  The only reason you may have missed joy and happiness is because you have not realized that joy and happiness are yours simply because you are here right now.  Walking in joy is nothing more then coming to terms with your divine nature and understanding that you can never separate yourself from the source of your creation.  Just because joy may have escaped you recently does not mean you will never get it back, nor does it mean that you have done something to make it go away.  We as humans are so good at believing that we are less then what we are.  In the eyes of Spirit we are perfect, yet we are unable to see our perfection.  You must begin to see the perfection in you if you are ever going to walk in absolute joy, accepting what is yours and knowing that it comes to you not because you have done anything to earn it, but simply because it is yours.

If you are able to recognize the greatness of your design, the perfection of your calling, and the oneness that you share with the Creator, then you will begin to walk in joy and all the cares of this world will no longer be able to detain you or keep you from enjoying the best that God has for you.  Walking in joy is something that should come as natural as breathing.  It should be as normal as your heart beating and as common place as you blinking your eyes.  You must accept the fact that you are worthy of joy.  You must accept the fact that there is nothing you can do that will ever make God remove what is yours, and joy is yours, you simply need to accept it and walk in it.

Yes there will be those who will challenge you in this life, but I will also bet that they are also void of joy in their life.  If everyone were walking around in joy just think how different the world would be. Don't let the absence of joy in someone else's life be the reason you are void of joy.  Just because they are unable to accept it does not mean you have to deny it.  Joy is there for you, not because you earned it, not because you did something special, but simply because it is a promise to you, and it is a promise that will never be broken.  Begin to see yourself as worthy and then you will walk in a joy that will motivate others to want what you have, and then the cycle will begin for them as well.