Stop!

Yeah, you heard me. Stop that. Don't do it any more. Life's too short. "What?" you say? Stop giving away your joy. Enjoy every day. Find something good in it. Believe me, as a teacher it would be easy to never have any joy in my life. After all, negative attitudes spread from one area of your life to another and before you know it, you end up with people who are angry and/or depressed. Nope. Not for me. I want to spend my life enjoying the people around me whether they be family, friends, co-workers, or students.

One of my students told me the other day that I only see good in people. For the most part, that's true. It's not that I don't know that bad people exist in my life, because they certainly do. It's just that I don't see any reason to dwell on those things, or to give them too much thought. Why spend too much time worrying about things you can't control? I know some of my students are very violent people and have hurt people. Worrying about it won't change the fact that I still have to teach them. I choose instead not to think about it, or sort of pretend it isn't so. If there is an issue someday, I'll deal with it then. But I'm not going to let that person rob me of my joy in teaching every day.

When joy is absent, life becomes difficult and strenuous. People often call that "stress". Another way to look at stress is when a rope is stretched out tight on two winches. The tighter you pull the rope the more stressed it becomes. Eventually, it will break. People are no different. You can only stress so much before you break. When people break it shows in various ways. Frequent illnesses, headaches, stomach ailments, and if nothing is done other more serious illnesses and diseases. It destroys relationships. Then there are some people who break emotionally and lash out at others. Those people do emotional and bodily harm to others and their property.

Yep. Joy is important and necessary to the emotional well being of every person. Don't give yours away. No matter what your life circumstances, find things in which to take joy every day. Its important for you and those around you.