I CHOOSE JOY.

My 7 year old, Zara, woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. It was too cold. The lights on in her room were “making her eyes sting.” I put all of her school clothes in the dryer so they would be warm for her, but her socks were “not warm enough.” I could go on, but I’m going to leave it at that.

Midway through her rough morning, I turned around to see her smiling and playing with her baby brother. This continued for a little bit, but once she saw me looking at her, her smile quickly dissipated, and she said “oh no Mommy, I’m still not happy!!”

The morning ended up fine. Our discussion ended up being that it’s okay to feel moments of joy even when it seems like everything around us is going wrong. That was my conversation with her.

For y’all, it’s even those moments of joy that make everything else that’s so sh*tty around us not so bad, even if it’s just for that minute. Sometimes, maybe even in Zara’s case, she didn’t want me to see her happy because then I wouldn’t have acknowledged her other emotions that needed so much attention. Let that one sink in for a sec.

Let’s not mistake someones joy as “everything is fine.”

Let’s also not ignore negative emotions from ourselves or others, and only wait to acknowledge them when “everything is fine.”

It’s okay to be happy and also be grieving. It’s okay to feel love and also feel disappointment. It’s okay to be angry and also feel grateful. I think those are the things that make us human.

Whatever this week brings, I want to invite you to allow yourself to feel joy when it sparks even if it’s just for a moment. Joy bring hope. Hope brings new ideas. New ideas bring creativity and breakthrough.

“I Love Myself. Therefore, I Choose Joy.”

With Love,

Mama Shye