What Will You Choose?

To be filled with overwhelming and everlasting joy.

This past summer I started keeping a list on my phone called Little Victories. It is a compilation of scribbles and daily documentaries recording memories and observations of positive, hope-for-humanity living.  9.16.15 || I elevated from the basement to the 17th floor of my apartment building without stopping on any other floor.  7/1/15 || I finally got a seat on the subway, only to find that it was much more satisfying to give it to another person who needed it more.  8/4/15 || The day I spotted three separate occasions of human beings giving away or being given flowers.  The same day || A moment I heard a father say to a daughter she is special and she is worth it.

I believe there is goodness in each living and breathing day.  I also believe there are moments of pure struggle and pain.  There are times of sadness and challenges, and there are times of successes and leaps of faith.

Here's the thing about being human: Life is not fit for perfection.  There will be bad days, there will be fantastic days.  Not every morning is filled with sunshine; not every evening is free of conflict.  I can choose to sink in my suckage and isolate myself from community, which would lead to absolutely nothing helpful or life-giving.  I can choose to pretend every little aspect of my life is fine and dandy when in reality I deal with extreme anxiety and insecurity.  

But here's the other thing about being human: Life is a lesson of even greater things than perfection.  I can choose to face the day with a brave and joyful heart. I can choose to be thankful for air to breathe and a mind to think and a heart to beat, even when my day is going awfully terrible.  I can choose to react to my circumstances with courage, rather than fear, with hope that everything will surely be okay in the end, and with the understanding that the trials of my life are gifts of growth for the future.  

I am joyful to find myself happy with sunshine, but even more so, to find beauty in the grayest of clouds and the mightiest of thunder showers.  I am grateful for the labor of love - not running away from responsibilities or conflicts, but overcoming them with forgiving hearts and faithful obedience.

Today I am choosing to trade my anxiety with gratitude, my fear with bravery, my drudgery with passion.  Today I choose joy.
What will you choose?


Live well and spread the love, my beautiful friends. 
For the Praise of His glory, XOXO
Gracie