My husband and I are both known for many things. We’re known for our love of music, for our plethora of “Dad jokes,” and for our socks. While I’m somewhat mellow in my sock choice, preferring merely to mismatch my various neon-colored socks to my heart’s content. My hubby took it to the next level though. He has neon green bowling pin socks, he has TMNT socks in more than one color, he has socks that look like a shark is eating his heel. Our most recent addition was a long-sought-after pair of socks gifted us by my husband’s mom:

I know it’s silly. I know it’s a little ostentatious. But we don’t wear our socks for others: they are purely a happy moment we gift ourselves on a nearly daily basis. It makes me happy knowing I have a neon purple sock on my left foot and a pink and green neon plaid sock on my right foot. It makes my husband happy to have a pair of Christmas pug socks on in June. We choose to be happy.

It’s easy, especially once you reach the adulting years of the glorious 20’s, to feel that you have be unhappy with your life to be normal. Just about everyone will tell you everything that’s unhappy about their home, their car, their clothes, their face, their friends, their family, their job…. So few choose “happy” over mundane. But what good does that do?

Happiness is a choice. Or, to put it in biblical terms, joy is a choice.

“Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD” 1 Chronicles 16:10 tells us. Psalms 33:21 states, “For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in His holy name.” If you’re seeking the Lord (aka following God’s will and living a righteous lifestyle) and you’ve trusted in His holy name (aka made the conscience choice to become a Christian), the joy is available to YOU.

Maybe you’ve been a little down in the dumps lately. Maybe you’ve been depressed for a long while. Maybe things just can’t seem to turn out good for you. Maybe you’re pretty bitter about some circumstances that have shown up in your life or about the way a certain person has treated you. If you want to be different and have a chance to have joy, you have to start with a choice.

It can be something small: it can be as simple as wearing a silly pair of socks. I dare you to try to choose happiness in one small way each day for the next week: find one little, small thing that you can do or see that makes you want to smile. Remember, it all starts with one choice.

Love, Meghan