Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Joy isn’t something that simply happens, sometimes there are simple ways to reclaim it, especially in hard seasons of life. Here are a few simple ways to bring joy into your life.
Sometimes joy gets lost in the middle of an ordinary life.
Whether It’s stress, bad news, comparison, disappointments, difficult relationships, job deadlines, or the never-ending to-do list, little by little those things steal joy that once came naturally.
If someone asked you today, “What does it look like to take some of your joy back?” How do you think you might answer?
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Here are five simple ways to consider, just in case you’re looking for a little more joy in your life:
5 Simple Ways To Bring Joy Into Your Life
- Notice the good each day. Look for something worth being grateful for today.
- Put down your phone. Take a break from the comparison and noise. Studies show that taking breaks from social media can reduce comparison and improve well-being.
- Spend time with people who breathe life into your day. The right people and the right conversations can turn a hard day around.
- Do something that makes you smile. Play the music. Take the walk. Make the coffee. Laugh with somebody. Joy doesn’t always have to be complicated.
- Give it to God. Joy isn’t dependent on everything going right in life. There can still be joy in the middle of a hard season when the source of your joy is bigger than your circumstances.
Maybe today it’s time to bring your joy back.
This list is something I remind myself of often. There are so many things competing for my mind and my peace every single day. I don’t want to hand my joy over to them.
For many years, I did that. Unintentionally, of course. It’s not like I woke up one day and said, “Okay, no joy for me today!“
Life got hard. It got dark. It even got scary. And if I’m honest, a little bit hopeless.
But God continues to shine light into the darkness.
Sometimes it comes through a hug, a sweet prayer or listening ear.
Other times a rockstar parking spot… or simply having the last can of vegan Dr. Pepper beans waiting on the store shelf for me. Or even finding an Italian leather bag on deep clearance during a hard season of life! (It can happen; I wrote about it!)
I’m learning that when I seek out joy in the ordinary (and hard) moments of my life, I find it. Some days it takes more effort than others, but the joy is always there.
Because when the source of your joy is larger than your circumstances, the search for joy is never in vain.
Joy comes from God even when my circumstances aren’t joyful.
Psalm 16:11 says:
“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”
The greatest joy is found in having a relationship with Jesus.
It took a lot of really hard experiences, and the loss of many labels I once identified with, to realize that so much of what I thought was joy could disappear in an instant.
But Jesus and His love for me are eternal.
Circumstances change. People come and go. Seasons of life rise and fall.
Yet the joy of Jesus remains. Always and forever.