Learning to Live With Joy

I apologize for not posting on a more frequent basis. Also, instead of promising that I will be more consistent, I will just leave it at the apology and just try doing it.

Well, readers, I must be honest with all of you and why I have chosen to write this post. This is going to be very hard to write and is very uncomfortable to broadcast to the public, or rather whoever decides to read this. I have been battling depression for the past few weeks.

For those who really know me, this is unfortunately nothing new. I have struggled with it for years and always manage to pull myself out of it and got back to my usual self. These cycles can be very annoying.

So something needs to be done.

A friend from church gave me something interesting to think about--the word joy. It was actually an acronym.

Joy means living for Jesus, others, and yourself.

It is a great way to prioritize life.

So, this is what I hope to be doing in future...

1. Living for Jesus. My Christian walk has gone through ups and downs a lot and I know at the moment I am feeling very far away from God. I must make this my no. 1 thing in life.

2. Living for others. I am painfully shy and am used to being by myself and preferring it, but that is not healthy all of the time. We as people, and especially as Christians, need to reach out and concern ourselves with others. The Gospel needs to be spread, helping hands should be extended, and other hearts need to be touched by our own. This is a struggle for me and I know I will need God's help doing so, but since I know it is His will, I know it will be done.

3. Living for myself. I would like to clarify two things:

a. I know from the outset that this last thing should not be taken as a right to be self-obsessed. God forbid! as the apostle Paul would say. However,

b. It should also not be demoted to the last and also the least thing.

I have not been taking care of myself lately, I must admit. This last step, which is certainly not the least, needs to be balanced.

One cannot leave off taking care of one's self, because it leads to not being focused on God and not having energy to focus on others. I hope that makes sense.

So, I need to live in a balanced state and, hopefully, this will decrease my cycles until they no longer exist.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know in the comments if this post has touched something deep within you and you wish to share. I would love to hear.

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