Joy Is a Choice — Card 1
I Choose Joy — Card 2
Joy Scroll 📜
Beloveds,
Some days joy comes knocking.
Other days, joy doesn’t knock at all. It waits quietly, wondering whether there’s room for it in a heart already carrying so much.
But joy doesn’t require a perfect day.
Joy doesn’t demand that grief disappear, that problems be solved, or that every question receive an answer.
Sometimes joy is simply the decision to make room for one beautiful moment in the middle of an unfinished story.
And over at Cassandra University, one beautiful moment was about to get completely out of hand.
🎶🎶🎶
Cassandra heard the music.
Little Cassandra heard it too.
Before anybody could suggest a committee meeting, the little girl was already dancing, the puppy was bouncing, and the grown golden dog had begun wagging his tail like a conductor leading an orchestra.
Robie stepped forward, straightened his jacket, and attempted something he insisted was a dance move.
Ha! nearly fell over.
“SOMEBODY CHECK HIS KNEES!” 🤣
Hard folded her arms.
“Leave him alone. The man is trying.”
Then she examined Robie’s footwork.
“Although I would strongly recommend he stop trying THAT.”
Little Cassandra giggled.
Big Cassandra laughed.
And Robie, who apparently had never met a rhythm he couldn’t misunderstand, kept right on dancing.
But across the room, Reflection was staring into the mirror.
She wrote:
“What if nobody chooses me?”
Mirror answered:
“You belong before anybody chooses you.”
Reflection hesitated.
Then she wrote something else.
“But what if my heart is hurting?”
Mirror responded:
“Then your hurting heart deserves some joy, too.”
Reflection looked across the dance floor.
Hard was pretending she wasn’t enjoying herself.
Ha! was laughing so hard that her helmet had slipped sideways.
Little Cassandra had invented a dance that involved absolutely no recognizable steps.
The dogs had apparently formed their own dance committee.
And Robie?
Robie was still dancing.
Badly.
Joyfully.
Without waiting for permission.
Reflection slowly smiled.
Maybe joy didn’t have to wait until everything was better.
Maybe laughter wasn’t betrayal.
Maybe celebrating one moment didn’t mean forgetting another.
Maybe choosing joy didn’t mean pretending the hard things weren’t hard.
It simply meant the hard things weren’t entitled to everything.
Joy is not an obligation to be happy.
Some days, resting is enough. Some days, tears are necessary. Sometimes the most loving choice is to acknowledge that today hurts.
But when joy comes, we don’t have to send it away just because sorrow is already visiting.
There can be room for both.
And there can always be another chair.
Suddenly, Ha! shouted:
“ROOOOBIE! THAT’S YOUR THIRD LEFT FOOT!”
Hard shook her head.
“I’m going home.”
But she didn’t move.
Not one inch.
Because Hard had begun tapping her foot.
And everybody saw it.
🤣🤣🤣
Joy is a choice. I choose joy.
Not because everything is easy.
Not because every wound is healed.
Not because every person understands.
But because life contains more than what hurts.
There is love to give, grace to receive, laughter to share, and music still waiting to be danced to.
And today, we’re making room for joy.
💃🏽🕺🏽🕴️
Thoughts from Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe
