When life gets hard, there are many choices about how to respond to the hardship.

Of all the choices before us, joy may not be the easiest. But joy is a choice.

Sometimes it can look like avoidance. Like you are ignoring the circumstances.

For me, joy is not denying what’s right in front of me. It’s facing it while refusing to let it overtake me.

It’s a decision to persevere despite the circumstances. It’s remaining hopeful in the middle of hardship and refusing to let today’s circumstances define tomorrow’s expectations.

I’m not saying that sadness doesn’t have a place.

What I am saying is that I don’t stay focused on the sadness. Sadness may be part of the journey, but it doesn’t have to be where I stay.

I believe it can be an important step on the pathway to joy.

It might even be a good companion to joy.

I slow down. I reflect. I’m honest with myself and with others.

I confront the realities of life with hope that things will not always be as they are.

Joy isn’t the absence of obstacles. It’s how you meet them.