4.7 Kerri Walsh-Jennings: Find Joy

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“In everything you do, find something you can be thankful for.” - Joyce Meyer

Does anxiety or fear of the unknown keep you from enjoying your journey?

Kerri Walsh-Jennings is a 3-time Olympic gold medal beach volleyball player. She once said, “In this journey, the fear creeps in from time to time. The hint of that is there because there’s an unknown factor to everything. That’s true in everyone’s life. I don’t choose to live there; I let it spark me.”

How do you manage that fear? 

One of my favorite verses says, “The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy; I have come that may have life, to the full, till it overflows.”

The thief can be a lot of things: fear, worry, anxiety, challenges, etc., but we don’t have to let any of them steal our joy and love for who we are and what we do.

Some of the best athletes talk about enjoying the journey, and a major key to that is finding ways to enjoy everyday life. Some people wait for major moments to find joy, and others let joy power everything they do.

My goal is to overcome all negative feelings and energy so that I can enjoy every day- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

One way to do that is by being thankful. A coach once told me you can’t be grateful and depressed at the same time, so when I start to have negative thoughts, I either think about the good that is going to come from the work I am doing or think about 3-5 things I am grateful for right now.

Question of the Day: What is the thief that steals your joy, and how can you overcome it?

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