While on a vacation recently I realized that I was limiting my own expression and experience of joy and happiness. What I realized is that I had mentally restricted or prescribed when I could be happy – and I knew that wasn’t right. And surely it isn’t what God has in mind for me. Do you know what I mean? Like how you expect weekends to be the time for fun and joy but that’s it. Why was I restricting my own joy? Why couldn’t I live with joy and happy while at work (I’m a sole proprietor) or in any situation at any time or day of the week?

What I was discovering in my own thought was a limitation or boundary for when joy could happen. As if it only happens on vacations and weekends or only when I did certain kinds of work. No way. I knew God had no sense of these false boundaries – God offers unlimited joy for all Her creation.

I think this all came to mind because my vacation was winding down and I knew I would be back to work soon. Then I started thinking about why I expected vacation to be so good and why I wasn’t looking forward to answering all the voice mails that had piled up since I left my office. I would check my email each day and be grateful I could wait to reply on most of them and just relax and take time off. It didn’t have to be that way. And once I changed my thought about it, I felt much more relaxed during my vacation and when I got back.

Yes, time off is good and it’s great when it can be a time of rest but I knew that work could be a place for joy and happiness just as much as relaxation happens during vacation – and how that was a source of happiness.

Is this all making sense? Let me set the stage a bit more here. I believe that God is the source of all good in my life and that God creates great abundance and opportunity in my life. I believe that God is all good and only wants the best for me. And I know that God's providence for me includes good – all the time – not just in limited material confines (like days of the week or during certain kinds of activities or work). Meaning, God doesn’t set up weekends and only provide opportunity for joy then. God doesn’t limit anything that way.

So this was my realization. This is how I got a whole new view of my own happiness and since I’ve been back from vacation I’ve been reminding myself that each day is my opportunity for joy. I realized that even while doing things that may not be my favorite things at work I could appreciate the opportunity to learn something new or get even better at a skill I had. Why not?

No doubt you’ve heard that how you think about a situation determines how you feel and the outcome. So why not choose to be joyful and

happy during the work day and all the time? I can tell you it’s working 

for me!

 

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