Life throws things at me all the time. I don't know about you but being in college and working and balancing friendships and family is hard at times and it really pulls on all the emotions. Family struggles, personal struggles, and material struggles (like car problems, school, hobbies, etc.) Everyone is always going through something. And that something is different for everyone. Do you ever think "why am I not happy?" Because I do too. A lot actually. I think the first question to ask before we even ask "why am I not happy" is, what is happiness?

Happiness is not a commitment like love or joy is. A commitment doesn't just escape us when another emotion overwhelms us. Being happy is a feeling. Feelings come and go and happiness is a feeling just like sadness or anger. Those feelings do not define us or make us whole or complete in any way. What happiness is, is a feeling you get when you see your favorite movie on Netflix or when you go on a really great date.

Happiness is not the everlasting feeling of joy. Those moments I listed above are momentary parts of usually everyday occurrences. Joy is when you rejoice when you wake up each morning with your sights set on the greatest parts of life. Life throws so much at us as I said before and if you're just happy, you're going to be miserable. But if you choose to have a joyful life and try to see the best in things, then life will be so much more enjoyable. Of course there'll be days and maybe even weeks when everything seems to go wrong but then it's a choice you have to make of choosing to be thankful for the smallest things and realizing that the sun rose in the morning to give you new opportunities or you can choose to live in your bad situation and have that be on your mind instead of pushing past it and seeing the good things that life gives you everyday.

It starts one day at a time taking the things that you are so grateful for and turning that into your motivation for joy and thanksgiving. Think about the people, places, and opportunities that you're most grateful for. Skip over the material things you have because if all that was taken away then you wouldn't have happiness but if you have the pure commitment of joy then all those things could be taken away and you would be just fine because of the joy that you possess.

Joy for me is waking up every day and knowing that God has given me everything I need to survive and live my best life. I have amazing friends, an incredible family, a job that I prayed for fervently, and a life that is my own. The joy of the Lord is the most incredible joy anyone can know. Putting my trust into something so much more powerful and loving than myself, a human who is incredibly flawed, is so amazing and it's the greatest love story ever written.

Give thanks every day because we're truly blessed in every way. Choose joy today and not the surface feeling of happiness knowing that He has given us everything we need to thrive.