Choose your own adventure

A few weeks ago, I sat down with a coach who has been deeply formative in my life the last few years and asked her this: how do you stay hopeful and joyful amidst all that life can throw at you?  She wondered with me, Bill, how do you be when you are hopeful and joyful?

After making my list of what I am like when I am hopeful and joyful, she wondered with me what stops me from being like that?  What happens in my day that stops or changes my demeanor to something else?  As we spoke what became clear, is that so much comes down to my choices, and the meaning I make of what is going on around me.  She observed that the way I show up when I am hopeful and joyful are all things that I can choose to live into no matter my circumstances.  Not to advocate being aloof or disconnected, but if I am truly a hopeful, joyful person, then I can choose to show up in this way no matter what comes at me.

All this made me wonder: what choices do we all make each day about how we see the world?  What choices do we make about our emotions and attitude?  What impact do our choices have on how show up at work, home, and other places?  As for me, I have been reflecting on what habits and patterns do I need to make part of my life so that I can show up a more hopeful and joyful person?