I ordered a shirt from one of those online boutiques. I was able to pick the color and word that went on the front of the shirt in typewriter print. I carefully chose my favorite hue of green and chose a word that could be worn all year round.
Joy. We could all use some joy right now.
My intentions were good, I was going to wear the shirt and exude joy to everyone I came in contact with. I had a plan.
The shirt came in and I opened the plastic package and placed it on my chest to get a glimpse of what it would look like as I spread joy. My husband said, “What is it supposed to say?” I quickly snapped in reply, “Joy.” My reply was not in a joyful tone. He replied, “Well it doesn’t say joy.”
Frustrated that someone messed up my well-thought-out order, I snatched the shirt and looked at the word. JOLLY. Are you serious? (This time not sounding very jolly or joyful.) My thoughts became irritated that someone could be that dumb and grab a shirt that said jolly and not my joy. For real, could someone just get it right?
Making sure it was not MY mistake, I looked back on my order to see if I had picked the wrong word in my order. I had ordered correctly… someone else made a mistake and they were going to fix it. I can’t wear a shirt that says jolly all year and what message will I be conveying to people with jolly across my chest?
I contacted the seller and was sent a return label to send my jolly shirt back to be corrected.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks… I need joy.
And not the shirt kind of joy, but true joy. In fact, I need to adjust my attitude and ooze joy instead of the way I had been acting all along about this shirt.
I can choose to have joy or not. I can walk around all irritated and frustrated with other people or the pandemic or my job or my family or I can choose joy.
No one can cause you to not choose joy. It is all up to you; you decide if you choose joy or not.
My new shirt came in and it is just what I needed, a reminder to choose joy everyday. The funny thing is I am going to order another shirt from the site since it is soft and fits perfect… I think I need another one, maybe this time I DO need the one that says jolly.
Choose joy this holiday season and all year round.
