“You don’t have the power to make life “fair,” but you do have the power to make life joyful.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Life is not always fair unfortunately. We see people working half as hard as us and making more money. Or we know people who seem to have life all together and all of their dreams come true, while we struggle to find two ends to put together. Maybe we have tried to be good people but it seems like bad things just keep happening to us, while others seem to have good health and never have anything wrong. Maybe we struggle to loss five pounds while others do the same thing and the pounds seem to fall away. These are things we cannot necessarily help in life. Some would say it’s just the hand we were dealt. Others would say it not fair.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot make life fair for everyone all of the time. Not everyone will get a trophy just for showing up. Things will happen to each of us. That is life, there are ups and downs that we all must go through to grow and learn. It can be painful and frustrating.
However, despite this, we can make our lives joyful. If we stop for a moment and look at ourselves and not others, we see what we have. We may see family and friends that provide a closeness and love that keeps our hearts warm. We may see the accomplishments we have made in our lives, things we can be proud of. It is often these little things which bring joy to us. Joy is not necessarily happiness, but a feeling of warmth and contentment in our hearts. Those feelings of pleasure and well-being. Yes, happiness is included in this, but joy and happiness are not one and the same. Sometimes if we change our perspective, we find our joy. And share it with others.
We may not be able to do things we used to be able to but we can still do some things. Each of us can bring a smile to another’s face. We can comfort and laugh. We can remember and share our lives with those around us. We can lower the bar of expectation we place on ourselves, asking for perfection and over-stretching our time and abilities. Give ourselves grace when we are not exactly who we thought we would be, and instead rejoice in who we are.
These are the things which bring us together and help us sing a joyful song in our lives. While we are looking outside at the world and others, comparing this and that, we will not see the joy of our own lives. However, when we look inward at our true selves and at the One who made us, we will find that joy. We may not be able to change the hand we are dealt, but we can choose how we look at it and what we do with it.