I’ve been accused of many things in my years on the planet, but never of not having joy in my heart and a twinkle in my eye.

Sure, like everyone else, I’ve had my moments, days when my blues had the blues and I am forced to grapple with life’s many challenges and wonder what’s really going on. But deep down inside I have always known that all of these things shall pass and all that remains constant in my life is the love, joy and growth I celebrate every day. I’m talking about the makes-me-clap-my-hands, can’t-keep-it-to-myself kind of joy. The kind that wakes me up every morning with a song in my heart and a smile on my face.

A long time ago — can’t really say when — I learned that happiness is fleeting and joy is forever. What that really means is if it takes money, good fortune or things going our way all the time to make us happy, we’ll never be truly happy because these things don’t always last. For far too many people, money is like energy; the more they have, the more they spend. Good fortune is like good health; too few of us appreciate it until it’s gone. And none of us ever have things go our way all the time.

The joy I have will never dissipate completely as long as I remember that the Creator thinks enough of me to give me everything I need to survive and prosper, and that every day that we wake up and face the world is a day pregnant with possibilities. Wonderful things come to people who are prepared to accept and embrace them.

Listed below are some of my tips for maintaining joy in our lives despite the many mountains all of us must climb:

• Never compare yourself or your situation to others. When we compare ourselves to others, we run the risk of becoming vain or bitter. Vanity and conceit may result from our lives comparing favorably to others, and bitterness and envy are the end-result of blaming or resenting others for the disappointments in our lives.
We shouldn’t spend precious time worrying about what the next brother or sister has when we could be spending this time and energy making our own dreams come true. We should also remember that everything the Creator has given us can be taken away if we abuse it, refuse to share it with others or fail to recognize or appreciate the blessing.

• Each of us is responsible for our own happiness. Don’t give anyone or anything else the power to make you happy by saying things like, ‘If I could only get married…’ or ‘If I could win the lottery or get my hands on some money, I could buy…’. Joy comes from within, and it is interwoven with the faith and knowledge that things are going to work out the way they are meant to work out. Don’t let a single thing you are hoping, wishing and waiting for prevent you from being happy.
There is nothing wrong with wanting someone special in our lives and hoping for certain things, but we can’t allow not getting these things to prevent us from living our lives and appreciating all of the good things the Creator has brought to our lives. Putting our lives on hold while we sit around waiting for that perfect woman or man is not the answer. If we don’t get to know and love ourselves, our minds and our spirits, we may not be worth dating or knowing when that special someone comes along. It is therefore in our best interest to cultivate a relationship with the Creator and spend time getting to know ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, our hopes and dreams and fears. We must know ourselves, as our African ancestors have repeated reminded us, before we can establish healthy, meaningful relationships with others.

• Life is too short and each day is precious. Before we know it, it is time for us or someone we love to leave the planet. It is therefore imperative that we live each day to the fullest and let the people in our lives know how much they mean to us.
We do this in a number of ways, by coming out and directly telling people we love them, by the way we treat them and by the things we do for them. In the end, what matters most is not what kind of car we drove, how much money we made or how “important” we were in the eyes of others. What matters most is the quality of the relationships we had with others and how we enriched the lives of those with whom we came into contact.

• Love covers over a multitude of sins. It may sound corny, but love has incredible healing power. I used to laugh when people used to make reference to love’s magical powers, but after witnessing many times how love has made a difference in the lives of so many people, I can’t help but believe.

None of us is perfect, and we need all the help we can get from the Creator. Love is the best way any of us can find favor in the eyes of the Most High, but we must also remember that love is its own reward. It makes old people young, poor people wealthy and puts smiles on the faces of people who have known nothing but heartbreak and adversity most of their lives. Love, after all, is the reason we were put on the planet in the first place.

Without love in our hearts and lives, everything else we will do is meaningless. With love, anything is possible.

• Don’t worry about things you can’t change, and trust in the Creator to help you find a way out of tough situations. The Bible tells us that none of us can alter our lives in any meaningful way by simply worrying about something that we perceive as wrong in our lives. For example, worrying about rent money is not as effective a plan for getting out of this predicament as having faith that things will work out and doing what you can to make it happen. Remember, the Bible also said that “faith without works is dead.” In other words, having faith that things will get better by and by is not enough. We must act accordingly on our faith, “the evidence of things not seen,” in order to make our way through this world. It isn’t always easy to have faith and to believe when there’s no logical reason to believe that things are going to work out, but it’s necessary. So we just have to find a way to do it.

Like the song says, “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. His eye is on the sparrow, that’s the reason why I sing.” My mind and spirit are as free as the wind, and if I have my way, the entire human family will someday share in the joy of a liberated mind and an unfettered spirit. Each of us has our challenges but divine wisdom reveals to us the folly of sweating the little things. While things aren’t what they should be, I thank the Creator that they are not as bad as they used to be.

The way I see it, joy is a derivative of faith, hope and love. And with these things in my heart, how could I possibly lose with the stuff I use?

Shoot, I’ve won before I even step out of the crib.

This article originally published in the June 13, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.