"Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things are."   Marianne Williamson

Today is the end of this work week.  No matter what happened this week, right now -- this minute --  there is joy waiting to be discovered.  In fact today contains all kinds of joy waiting to be noticed and appreciated and shared.  Joy is not so much in having everything work out just how we planned, but in recognizing that even in our so called defeats, there is joy to be had.  And we can always choose to do something to bring joy to someone else.  If you are right at the start or even in the middle of your divorce journey you are thinking, "She's crazy!  I'm a lot of things, but I'm not joyful... in fact, I'm anything but joyful."  I spent lots of hours and days and months feeling like that, too. But like Marianne Williamson suggests, if we just stop and really look around at all the things we DO have to be joyful about, it changes us and it changes our life. Think about how good we have it, really.  We have our spiritual self that nothing can destroy or defeat.  We have God-given talents and abilities to share.  We have many amazing physical blessings ... enough to eat, clean water to drink. Plus we have people who care about us and want good things for us and want us to be happy.  Don't let the actions of one person destroy your joy.  If you let that happen, it's your fault as much as his.  You are smarter than that.  You are better than that.  You are wiser than that.  You are responsible for your own joy.  Choose to let God help with that, too.  He is Joy personified and wants to give you not only deep joy, but gladness and even laughter again as well.  Loosen up.   Accept how good things really are.  That in itself brings joy enough for today.

"He (God) will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."  Job 8:21 (NIV)