Joy is worth the struggle.

Do more! See more! Experience more! Be happy!

But the happiness flits away. The delight and enthusiasm fade. I crash after the sugar rush of fun I launched into to avoid the mundane, the boredom, or the pain. 

I crave deeper. I crave lasting. I crave joy.

I’m learning to contemplate more. Not just think, reframe, brainstorm, or solve, but truly contemplate. To create some space in my mind. But, y’all, the pause can be so hard! My mind doesn’t wander, it dashes about like rabbits with trails.

A mantra brings focus to contemplation, brings purpose to the pause. 

Joy is worth the struggle.

Joy coexists with pain, disappointment, and frustration. Experiencing true joy, deep joy means facing the pain, acknowledging the disappointment, and working through the frustration. 

Joy is worth the struggle.

Far beyond positive thinking or slapping some whitewash on a crappy situation and calling it “joy,” with bravery, I must face my own failings and issues, the pain I’ve caused others. And the failings of others, the pain they’ve caused me. And the failings of an imperfect world, the pain of just being human. 

Joy is worth the struggle.

When I face the reality of negative emotions and experiences, my joy gets roots. The joy can’t be blown away because my joy is connected to the soil of my real heart. Because I have chosen not to numb the pain, but to address the pain, to find healing after the pain.

Joy is worth the struggle.

After I cut my teeth on the gravel, I remember I serve a God who heals. He redeems my life into a crooked smile that is more full of joy than what I had before.

Joy is worth the struggle.