I ran into a friend today- one of those warm, familiar faces who always brings a little light into your day. After the usual catching up, she asked with genuine curiosity, “How are you doing?”
I smiled and replied with my go-to: “Good.”
But this time, she paused. Tilted her head. Looked at me a little deeper.
And then she asked the real question:
“How do you do that? Why does it seem like you’re always so… happy?”
And in my head, I thought: “oh if you only knew…..it is a daily choice, my dear.”
And it is so true!
Because joy isn’t a personality trait-it’s a practice.
Peace isn’t a guarantee-it’s a promise you make to yourself.
And healing? Healing is the most rebellious thing you can commit to in a world that often profits off your pain.
There are days when life catches you off guard-when the news, the phone call, the knock at the door carries weight you didn’t ask for.
There are moments when the love you give is misunderstood, manipulated, or mishandled.
When parts of your past-parts you’ve made peace with-are used as weapons in someone else’s war.
When you’re left with more questions than answers, and the ones you trusted seem to vanish when the truth becomes inconvenient.
But even on those days, you still get to choose.
And for me, it is the easiest choice, because I know my truth.
I know the quiet, patient conversations it took to repair a friendship that I truly believed was lost.
I know what it cost me to extend grace to someone who hurt me and then hid behind projection.
I know how hard it was to stay grounded when my name was spoken in rooms I wasn’t in-rooms full of judgment, not truth.
This is a choice we can all make!
You get to choose who you are in the face of disappointment.
You get to choose how you respond when your name is spoken by those who never bothered to learn your story.
You get to choose whether to carry that bitterness-or put it down and walk away lighter.
And I’ll be honest: I’ve chosen wrong before.
I’ve held on too long.
Spoken when I should’ve been still.
Stayed silent when I should’ve spoken.
But that’s the beauty of a daily choice-it resets.
Every morning, you rise.
And every morning, you get another chance to show up differently.
So yes-maybe it does look like I’m always happy.
But what you’re really seeing is someone who wakes up each day and says:
I will not let someone else’s brokenness make me forget my wholeness.
I will not let betrayal change my capacity for kindness.
I will not trade my peace for proximity.
I will not invite bitterness into my bloodstream.
Because I’ve learned that healing isn’t loud.
It’s the quiet choices. Daily disciplines.
It’s the way you hold your head high when the weight of injustice tries to bend you.
It’s the conversations you have with yourself in the mirror.
The ones no one claps for, but that changes everything.
To the person reading this-if your heart is heavy today:
I see you.
Keep choosing your peace.
Keep choosing alignment over approval.
Keep choosing healing, even when resentment tries to knock.
Keep choosing light, even when shadows surround you.
The world may not always understand it.
But your soul will thank you for it.
Because peace isn’t passive.
It’s power.
And every day you choose it-you win.
WITH LOVE – XOXO
J
Journey Coaching 
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