Today, I choose joy in my life

I like to prowl around in flea markets, resale shops and places like Goodwill and the United Gospel Rescue Mission Thrift Store.
For those who haven’t learned, on the third Saturday of each month the mission thrift store has a sale. The price of items vary but I’ll always find something “I just cannot live without.”
The item or items grabbing my attention each month vary too. This month a metal sign, among other things, left with me.
The sign says “Today, I choose joy.”
I haven’t selected a spot where the sign will live, but I’ve decided it will have a place of honor. I spot it at different times during my day and it reminds me I have a choice on how I will handle my day.
The sign doesn’t promise my day will be a perfect or glorious day. The sign validates that whatever happens in my life, I decide how I’ll handle the situation.
Things are not always going to be perfect or pleasant in my life, but I have a choice. I don’t have to allow the negative to absorb my joy.
Another reason I like the sign is it reminds me of words of wisdom my late father shared with me. After going through a difficult time in my life struggling to present a “normal” veneer, he said, “It’s not the struggles we face, but how we face them.” He then praised me for how I handled the situation.
I could not tell you today what I perceived then to be such a difficult thing, but I certainly remember his words, which are much like my “new” sign. Today, I may choose joy.
Barbara Ann Horton is a staff writer at the Daily American Republic. She can be reached at bhorton.dar@gmail.com.