Joy is defined as “a feeling of great happiness.” Joy is an emotion that I somehow seemed to forget about when I moved to college. I was so overcome with stress, anxiety, and worry, that joy seemed to not fit on my to-do list anymore. To remain joyful seemed to almost be an extra item for me to have to put effort in, so it sadly fell in a metaphorical box, unwanted.

The only problem with this scenario is that a joyless Christian isn't really a Christian at all. How effective of a Christian would we be if we told the story of Jesus like Sadness from the movie Inside Out? For the first half of my first semester of college, I would compare myself to Sadness. I moped around, cried substantially, and hung my head low. I was so overwhelmed with a longing to go home that I had no desire to do anything else. That metaphorical box I had placed joy into seemed to be lost under a pile of unwanted things.

I feel that many college students who are homesick freshman place joy on a back burner and try so hard to make friends, grow closer to God, and do well in classes, but none of this makes them happy or joyful in the slightest. Maybe, just maybe, this is because we have chosen to set joy in a box, left unattended and soon buried somewhere in the back of our closets, never to be seen again. We are left alone because we seem utterly sad and hopeless and no one else wants to feel like this, we fall into a vicious cycle of loneliness, grief, and sadness.

But what if we make an effort to dig through our closet to find that box that we thought we had lost. What if we pick up that joy that once seemed unneeded and useless, and integrate this emotion back into our daily routine. What if instead of trying to squeeze happiness into a to-do list we make this positive attitude part of our lives. What if we take joy seriously and experience this “ great feeling a happiness.” Lori Dubree, a dear influence and encouragement in my life, sends me weekly encouragements and gave me a bracelet that has etched into it, “Choose Joy.” Everyday as I look down at my wrist I am reminded that I can either choose to look at the negative or positive side of life.

I know I am only a Freshman and from what I hear college only gets harder, but I feel as if we choose to empty the box we have placed joy in, we can gain a whole new perspective on life. We never hear of people who change the world or impact people as negative or pessimistic people, instead we here of upbeat and lighthearted ones who place others before themselves. As Joy from Inside Out would say “Joy is finding happiness in everything.” Today when life throws you a curveball or knocks the breath out of you, remember you have a choice, but please choose joy.