In honor of the last 10 {week}days of my semester, here are 10 reasons to be joyful during the last portion of this 2016 year.
As the year {and semester} comes to a close, your stress-o-meter may be on the rise.
But why?
This time of the year is supposed to be filled with magical and joyful fervor! The end of the semester is an accomplishment and a time of celebration!
But oh, the shopping and the cooking and the papers and the finals and the projects that all need to be done before the clock runs out - it can all be so stressful.
1. You have made it this far
There are so many moments throughout this past year where I felt like I would not last - like I could not make it until the end of the year, much less the end of the week, or in some cases, the end of the day.
You have something to be thankful for, even if you have had your fair share of challenges. You have something to be celebratory over for, even if it took more blood, sweat & tears than you are willing to admit.
Maybe you made it this far not on your own strength, but on the strength of others. Give credit to those whose credit is merited, and rejoice in the victory.
2. People are always watching you
Walking through the store or walking to your car from class, people are always watching you. Through social media, people are always watching you. Through your attitude and subsequent actions, you make a name for yourself.
Personal experience tells me that no one enjoys being in the midst of a Negative Nellie or a Ba-Hum-Bug Betty. And now-a-days I feel as if joy is something almost of the past; I mean, you better watch yourself or the car behind you may get road-rage when you change lanes because your turn is coming up soon.
Give people the benefit of the doubt; smile instead of furrowing your eyebrows and when you feel those negative feelings creeping up on you for whatever reason, laugh it off. Being joyful is much less of a burden and all the more refreshing than the feelings of displeasure and vexation.
And those people who are watching you, they may just be inspired enough to set forth the joy you directly or indirectly show unto them. It's contagious, beautifully contagious.
3. You are just that much closer to your dream
Maybe you are in college, finishing up your second to last semester of undergraduate, and before you know it you are going to walk across the stage, receive your diploma and be just a few short weeks away from taking a nursing licensure exam. Every passing day you are closer to that goal you have set forth. Of course, by the time you complete that goal - that 'once-upon-a-time I graduated from high school and could only dream of being a nurse' goal - you have a whole new list of goals you want to reach, of dreams your want to fulfill.
Be joyful in your accomplishments, but never stop dreaming.
Everyday is a chance to 'catch up' with your dream, but what happens when your dream is no longer a dream but a check-mark on your dream checklist? Easy. Dream bigger dreams and take greater risks.
And be joyful throughout the process, for it is the journey that is the beautiful part of tackling your dreams.
4. You can dance
There was a large portion of this year that I was unable to get up and dance when I heard a song that made want to just jump up and move. Now, a few months later, my dancing feet have gone through many hours of rehabilitation and when I feel a tingling, I am able to get up and dance.
Maybe you are in a similar position I was a few months ago where you are unable to dance. Well, you don't have to have working feet to dance!
Be joyful because you have the freedom to be joyful and dance.
5. You are loved
Throughout the past year this fact of "you are loved" could not have been made more clearer to the deepest depths of my soul. Not only do I have a family who wants to see me succeed and will aid me in every way possible, I have a wonderful Creator who, in the midst of surrender, will never hurt me.
Sometimes challenges come your way, and if you open your heart in just the slightest fashion, these challenges can show you how loved you are and how surrendering every circumstance to Him does not make you vulnerable to defeat but capable of victory.
Do you feel as if you are not loved? Oh, open your eyes dear child, for you are so so loved by Someone who has perfected love. Do you feel as if you are not worthy of this love? Oh, dear child, perfected love looks over the 'worthiness' of individuals, and just loves because you are His beautiful creation.
6. It's winter!
I don't know about you, but the last few weeks of the year are always my favorite {unless I am sitting in a deer stand in the 32 degree weather}. Side note: I am that one who goes pro-winter about 2 weeks into hot weather and pro-summer about 2 minutes into sitting in the deer stand on a December morning. But that's besides my point. . .
The temperature cools down, the only cute clothes I own, my winter clothes, come out of the closet. There is just something about a nice glass of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top with a chilly outside temperature that fills my heart with joy {as long as I have the freedom to come into a warm house when I get too cold}.
And unless you live on the southern hemisphere of the round planet we call Earth {where summer is currently the season}, winter means overeating, increased family time, ugly {but not really ugly} Christmas sweaters, Hallmark Christmas movies, and an abundance of Christmas songs
which brings me to . . .
7. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Ever {parties}, OH MY!
Do I even need to go into detail about our seventh reason to be joyful? Normally the second thing people learn about me, with the first thing being my name, is that Christmas is my favorite season of the year. What could be better than stuffing your face with a majority of unhealthy food and spending time with family who makes you laugh so hard that you feel as if you are about to vomit all that food you just ate?
The last few weeks of the year, for me, are so beautiful because amidst all the stressed that the year brought, I am able to stand in victory and enjoy the calming aroma of family laughter and apple pie.
8. You have so much to be thankful for
With Thanksgiving literally just around the corner {man, this year has just gone by way too fast}, our eighth reason to be joyful could not be more applicable.
Before my challenges of this year, gratitude was not something that continuously lived in my heart. Even now, after the happening of this year, there may be moments where gratitude is overcome with selfishness and angst; however, my heart has been turned inside out, and now, more so than not, gratitude runs rampantly though my being. There are many car rides filled with tears of gratitude for with what I have been blessed not just over the course of this year, but all things that have brought me to where I stand today.
9. Everyday is a new adventure
While you are partaking in the adventure, it may be hard to see the overwhelming beauty of it all; but when you are able to look back on the adventure, the beauty in all of its glory is made apparent and you wonder why you couldn't see it before.
There is something beautiful in everyday, there is a gift and treasure hidden in each day; sometimes it may be harder to find it one day versus another, but it's there.
Joy is different than happiness; joy is inward peace and content and can withstand the ruthless journeys on which the adventures of life bring us.
The best example I can think of is from my personal life earlier this year: I was inflicted with the pain of the understanding that I would not be able to graduate on time. When I was told I would not be allowed to partake in a nursing course that I needed to take to move on to my courses for this fall semester, I was heartbroken. Many tears were shed and many hours my heart spend in agony of the knowledge I would not be able to complete my dream within the time I had designated to do so. However, when I chose to surrender my circumstances and future possibilities of graduating to Christ, that is when I was filled with joy and peace.
And subsequently, everything began to fall in place.
10. What reasons are there for you to not be joyful?
When you choose joy instead of the mindsets of Negative Nellie or Annoyed Annie or Worried Wendy, life is a little more refreshing, a little easier to live, more fun, even. Attitude is everything, mindset is everything.
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
React with joy, with a positive heart, because (1) it is not only a benefit to those around you, but to your own being, and (2) because what reason do you have to not be joyful!