It seems silly to look at harder times with joy.  Or when you fail as a way of happiness.

How about when you fall into the devil’s temptation and have a lapse of good judgment?

When you lose your temper and holler at someone, then 10 minutes later after you’ve calmed down you regret your actions.

How do you feel joy for times like these?

It took me a long time, and I still forget almost every day (yes, I still make HUGE mistakes everyday) to figure out how to find JOY in EVERYTHING.

The key for me is to smile, then pray.

By smiling I force myself to be happy for a second.

Then while that is going on I thank God for the situation that I am in.

Let’s say that I fail, things aren’t going as well as I wanted them to go, by smiling I make my mind think for a split second, hey what’s wrong with this picture, aren’t we supposed to be upset.

Then before my mind has a chance to figure out that it’s really a facade, I pray.

I thank God for allowing this to happen so that I could learn.  Then I ask him to help me actually learn this time instead of having to make the same mistake over and over again.

Until finally I learn or something breaks.

Here’s what it does. It allows me to forgive myself for whatever might have happened. If I made a HUGE mistake (like I always do) I can start the healing process internally.

If my mistakes involve others, which they most always do, then it allows me to go to them and ask for forgiveness. (which can be EXTREMELY difficult, no one likes eating crow.)

When trials come my way, I used to fret and worry about them for days, weeks, months, and even years. 

Now I paste on my smile, thank God for the opportunities that he is giving to me, and go forward at full strength.