I certainly enjoy people and behaving like a joyful child when I am with them. But I’ll bet I laugh more and experience more joy with our pets, who are just being their true selves and expressing their needs and desires. I, like our pets, choose joy, and it is because I refuse to spend my lifetime experiencing unpleasant feelings.

I don’t deny that which is unpleasant, but I do not give my life to it. I deal with it, I respond to it, and then I move on to seek joy. It is not wrong to be joyful even in the midst of life’s difficulties. To survive this life, find what brings you joy.