Reclaiming Your Joy: Why Today Matters More Than Tomorrow

Are you postponing your happiness until some future milestone? Waiting to feel joy until everything in your life is perfectly aligned? 

Joy isn't a luxury reserved for when you've checked all the boxes—it's your birthright, available to you right now. In this heartfelt exploration of authentic joy, we dive into the profound difference between happiness (which is circumstantial) and joy (which is rooted deep within). This distinction changes everything about how we approach our daily lives and personal growth journey.

Many of us have been taught that joy is the reward waiting at the finish line of our struggles. But what if joy is actually part of the healing process itself? What if you could experience tears of joy even while navigating challenges? Through personal stories and powerful insights, this episode reveals how joy can coexist with pain, how it manifests in everyday moments, and why choosing joy is one of the most powerful acts of self-love.

We explore joy as both loudly expressive and quietly sacred—from laughing until your stomach hurts to feeling a moment of peace despite imperfect circumstances. Most importantly, we unpack the four steps to reclaiming your joy right now: awareness, permission, presence, and courage.

You've survived enough, sacrificed enough, and waited enough. Today is your day to live fully in joy. Join me for this transformative conversation, and don't forget to reflect on what brings you unconditional joy. Share your reflections on Instagram and tag us so we can celebrate together! Remember: "I choose joy today. I don't have to wait. I am worthy of feeling good right now."

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey.
So, before we get startedreally quickly, I just want to
say thank you.
I want to say thank you to eachand every one of you all who
show up every week to listen tome sometimes rant, to listen to
me, get on here and preach, tolisten to what it is that I have
to share with you from thebottom of my heart, and I also

(00:24):
want to just take some time toclap for you.
I want to be your cheerleader,because I know that if you tune
into this show each and everyweek, that you are also an
action taker, that you are notjust listening to my words, that
you are actually a doer, and soI just want to congratulate you

(00:44):
.
But, like I said, I just wantto thank you for your time,
because your time is your mostprecious commodity and you just
spend a few minutes out of yourweek listening to me.
And for those of you all wherethis is your first time tuning
in, welcome.
I look forward to your emails,I look forward to your DMs.
Yes, I do indeed respond toeach and every one of them, and

(01:09):
I truly appreciate you All right.
So now that we got that out theway, I am excited about this
episode because, yes, we arestill in this month's theme of
Rediscovering you, and last weekwe spoke on unlearning and
relearning, because there aresome things, if we can just be

(01:31):
honest, that we have beenholding on to in our lives for
far too long and they are nolonger serving us.
There are some lies that peoplehave told us about ourselves
that we began to believe and arestill showing up in our lives
today.
So there are some things thatwe had to one, recognize, two,

(01:54):
let go of and then we had torelearn it, because this
authentic version of ourselvesthat is desperately trying to
emerge as we are rediscoveringwho we truly are, it has to be
let go.
And so this week, you all, weare going to be discussing how

(02:19):
to reclaim your joy and stopwaiting.
See, joy is not a luxury, it'syour new standard and you yes,
you, you are allowed to stopwaiting for later and start
living now.
So you'll hear people talkabout oh, I have to wait until

(02:42):
this happens in order for me todo this, or I have to.
You know, sometimes it could bewhere the children have to grow
up and you got to do all ofthese different things, but I
need you to realize that joy isthere for you and it's for the
taking.
See, what most people don'tunderstand about joy is that it

(03:06):
is a decision, it's not adestination.
That joy can exist, joy andpain can exist at the same time.
That joy isn't selfish, it'ssurvival.
Joy is internal and it's notbased on circumstances.
And joy can be loud or quietlysacred.

(03:30):
See, most people will just talkabout happy or happiness.
Joy is another level.
See, I had a prophet some yearsback and he talked about how for
me that there would be timesthat I would just be crying
tears of joy.
And at first I was like wait aminute, why am I crying?

(03:55):
Why would I want to be crying?
When you associate tears, youassociate it with pain.
You associate tears, youassociate it with pain, and that
is not the case.
It wasn't until I realized thatyou can truly cry tears of joy.
See, for some of you all, itcould be.
When you've walked down theaisle for women, when you've

(04:18):
walked down the aisle and yousee your husband standing there
at the altar, or for men, whenyou're standing at the altar and
you see your wife approachingyou, walking down the aisle
towards you, those are tears ofjoy.
It could be that you got thekeys to your brand new home and

(04:39):
just a few years ago, yourcredit score was in the 400s and
you didn't have the money toeven think about purchasing a
home.
It could be that you are thevery first person in your family
to have graduated from college.
See, those, those are not tearsof pain, those are tears of joy

(05:02):
.
And joy isn't waiting for yousomewhere out there, it's
already inside of you.
It's waiting for yourpermission to show up.
See, I already talked about mosttime, people just think of
happiness, and joy is not thefirst thing that comes to their
mind.
See, happiness is externalcircumstances.

(05:26):
Joy is internal, it's rootedand it's steady.
So you can go out here and getsome ice cream that could be
your cheat day, that could makeyou happy.
But joy, joy will have yousitting in your bed at night and

(05:47):
you are thinking about whereyou used to be and where you are
now and begin to cry, becauseit's reminding you that there is
something that I didn't thinkwas tangible, or something that
I think or thought that Icouldn't put my hands on, but is
now here.
All of the things that I haveprayed for are now here, that

(06:11):
will spark joy.
And then there's this visual ofhappiness is weather and joy is
the climate.
Y'all I need you to understandthat you deserve joy, you
deserve to feel joy.
You deserve for your heart torecognize that, oh, this feels

(06:37):
good and I like it, and berooted in that thing.
See, your happiness reacts andyour joy remains.
So how do we so?
How does joy tie into us?
Loving ourselves.
See, choosing joy means that weare choosing ourselves.

(07:01):
So I know you're trying tofigure out what are some things
that people recognize as joy.
I'm glad you asked.
Laughing until your stomachhurts, that can feel like joy.
A hug that feels like home.
Hearing your favorite old songunexpectedly sitting outside and

(07:22):
feeling the sun on your face,finishing something you once
thought you couldn't, smiling ata memory that used to make you
cry, watching your children orloved ones laugh without a care,
waking up and realizing thatyou're at peace, even if
everything isn't perfect.

(07:43):
My God, can we pause there fora second?
Because people want to rejoicewhen everything feels good.
People want to rejoice when allof the stars are in alignment.
Can I tell you that you can havejoy in the middle of chaos?
Can I tell you that you canhave joy in the middle of chaos,

(08:05):
that you can be crying tears ofjoy while all hell is breaking
loose around you.
Why?
Because you've been insituations before and if you're
a believer, you already knowthat you're going to come out on
the other side victorious.
So there's a level of joy evenin the middle of the chaos,

(08:32):
because you're not looking atwhat you can see, because that's
not faith, right, you'relooking at what the outcome is
going to be on the other side,just like when there are storms
that happen just in the worldoutside.
The rain eventually stops right, the thunderstorm eventually

(08:53):
rolls through, the cloudseventually push through and at
some point, the sun does indeedcome out.
That's how we have to begin tolook at our lives.
See, there are going to betemporary things that happen,
but that should not change thatyou are rooted in joy.
I hope that you realize that,that there can still be peace,

(09:21):
that you can wake up in themorning and be thankful that you
opened your eyes.
That should bring you joy.
It could be savoring a goodmeal, slowly thinking about food
that is so comforting.

(09:44):
Here's what will get me each andevery time hearing God's
whisper when you needed it most.
Have you ever been in church?
Most have you ever been inchurch?
And I can think back to timeswhen I was little and I did not
understand the prayers that theolder folks would say.

(10:04):
I would not understand thetears that would flow just being
in the church building.
If you're listening to worshipmusic, I would not understand
the dancing and the praising.
I didn't get it until I gotolder.
When you can close your eyes andenvision yourself in God's

(10:29):
presence, when you can envisionall of the things that you have
gone through and you've come outon the other side, when you
hear God's voice, even when it'sthe stillness, the still small
voice that sounds like a whisper, when you are having a moment

(10:50):
to just remind you, it's almostlike God saying I got you To
remind you.
It's almost like God saying Igot you, I got you.
So, yeah, those are some thingsthat are rooted.
Those are some things that willcause you to feel joy, and so I

(11:13):
need you to feel joy.
I need you to realize that youdeserve joy.
I need you to feel joy.
I need you to realize that youdeserve joy.
I need you to realize thathappiness is cool.
But joy is another level, justlike all of the work that we're
doing to become the authenticversion of ourselves.
Joy, you deserve to feel thatEach and every day, and so I

(11:40):
admonish you to figure out whatis it that brings you joy and
how can you make sure that it'ssomething that you are leaning
into and reclaiming each andevery day.
So back to how does joy tie intous?
Loving ourselves.
Joy is an act of self-love.
So every time we choose joy, weare choosing to believe that we

(12:06):
are worthy now and not later.
So how do we reclaim our joynow?
The first thing is awareness.
We have to notice that I'll behappy when thinking Now.

(12:26):
We're not doing that, then wehave to give ourselves
permission so you're allowed tofeel good now.
Then there has to be presence.
You have to find daily momentsof joy and you're going to
celebrate, celebrate small winsnow.

(12:51):
And then there's courage.
Choose joy even when life feelsunfinished.
Joy is not the reward afterhealing, it is part of the
healing.
So I need you to realize thatyou survived enough, you've

(13:12):
sacrificed enough, you've waitedenough.
Now, right now, is your time tolive, laugh and reclaim your
joy.
So I have some homework for you.
I need you to reflect on onething that brings you joy

(13:33):
without condition today.
Reflect on one thing thatbrings you joy without condition
today.
Share it on Instagram and tagthe hearts hello so that we can
celebrate together.
And here's a quick affirmationfor you to take throughout the
week I choose joy today.
I don't have to wait.
I am worthy of feeling goodright now.