{Choosing Joy}

Hey Long Lost Friends!

I didn't really mean to take a little hiatus...it just happened.

See I got kicked out of the Southern Blog Society...

Yup...you read that correctly...

Their excuse was because I didn't post enough.

Hey...I do't blame them.

I didn't meet their criteria...so I got cut.

It still felt like I was rejected by my middle school crush.

But it made me think...I don't make money doing this...blogging is just for fun.

Why would I post randomness just to make sure that I'm posting 3x a week.

So I just decided....heck...I'll post when I have something to say/share.

So I'm here to share something that's been on my heart the past few weeks!

Enjoy!

The other day, I was pulling out of Chick Fil A, and had a mom in a mini van straight up flip me off with most aggression than I've ever seen someone flip. 

I don't recall doing anything to deserve it, and if I did...I'm truly sorry. 

But that mom was TICKED off! 

And I couldn't help shake the feeling on the way home...

"Did that really help?" 

Was being angry and aggressive really helping to make you feel better? 

Are you happy when your aggressive? 

I know whenever I've been irrational...I feel pretty upset with myself after. 

Now I think we can all agree that one of our goals in life is to be happy. 

I want to be happy, I want Wendel to be happy, I want our family to be happy, I want the kids that I teach to be happy, I want the people I work with to be happy, I want everyone to be happy. 

It sounds awfully hippy of me, but it's true. 

So I have a question for you...

Are you choosing joy?

Are you choosing happiness?

Or are you letting the world get into your brain, making you feel depressed, anxious, sad, overwhelmed, not good enough etc? 

It's been something that I've been thinking about a lot the past few days. 

Am I choosing joy? 

My mom is. 

 Every. Single. Day. 

She has every right to choose anger. My dad was not a loving husband. He was a lousy "dad". And she could have been depressed every single day of her life. 

But if you ask anyone who knows her, you will hear that Emma Shipp is a joyful person. 

She chooses joy. 

My husband chooses joy. 

Now he isn't a joyful person like skipping through the hall kind of thing. 

He's a low key, quiet guy. 

But he always chooses joy. 

When I'm down about something, or overwhelmed, he always picks me up. 

When he sees someone who was mean or rude to him in the past, he always says a friendly hello. 

When he sees people taking advantage of him, he tries to see their point of view, forgive, and forget. 

He chooses joy. 

I kept thinking to myself:

Do people think of me as joyful? 

I can't answer that question. 

But I'm on a mission to always choose joy. 

Will it be easy...HECK NO!

Coming from a person who always chooses anger and frustration and anxiety and depression. 

I am going to try to choose joy. 

When I think about the empty feeling I have without a little bit growing inside of me, I will choose joy and remember that God has a plan and it is so good. 

When I get overwhelmed feeling like I'm not getting through to a child at school, I will choose joy and know that sometimes children just need a hug and some laughter...not always repetition and rewards. 

When I get "perfectionistic" about our home and feel like it will never be "done" I will choose joy and remind myself that this is not my home...it's His and we have been so blessed by it already. 

I'm going to choose joy. 

I don't want to be the mom who is so overwhelmed with life and kids and house and husband that I flip off an innocent person and still feel terrible after. 

I want to be the person showing grace to the person who just stole my parking spot. 

I want to be the person showing love to the mom who's child is throwing a temper tantrum in front of me. 

I want to be the person showing compassion to parent whose child is really having a hard time in PreK and may just need someone to talk to. 

I want to be the person who is a breath of fresh air...the person you want to be around. 

I want to be the person who chooses joy. 

Will you choose joy with me?

Happy Friday Friends!