Well, we’ve finally come to the end of this series. I have just one more part of this process, and that’s to help someone else find their joy and praise God in THEIR storm. While you may think this is something you do for others, it has a surprisingly positive effect on the person doing the encouraging as well.
You’ll find that in trying to lift someone else up, you are lifted higher yourself. Part of that comes from the smile effect. Smiling is contagious, so they smile, you smile. When you provide joy or happiness for others, you also feel joy yourself for having lifted someone else up…for having had some small part in bringing joy to another individual in trial of their own.
6. Help someone else
I know it sounds a bit backwards, but it can often feel good to be the solution for someone else’s problem. Sometimes we are almost paralyzed by our fear or stuck in our sadness that we feel a complete lack of control over our lives. It can feel empowering or at least uplifting to be the solution to something, no matter how small the issue is. As they used to say back when I was a little girl, “try it; you’ll like it.”
The other amazing thing about helping someone else is that it tends to be habit-forming. The more you feel good helping others, the more you want to do it. That not only increases your joy, but the joy around you.
You may not be able to become happy about your circumstances, but you can do things that bring you some joy. This joy will help us see the blessings God has put in our lives and this will, eventually, allow us to thank God and even praise him in the storm.
It’s been an incredibly difficult year for my family. As I said, I wrote this as much for me as I did for my readers. I have read it over about three times this week as I have needed these words as much as any of you. Please share your story. How can I pray for you?