10 Practical Tools for Finding Daily Joy in the Midst of Vanity

Reflecting on From Vanity to Joy

As it has now been two months since the launch of From Vanity to Joy, I wanted to share a companion article for anyone who would be interested in some really practical application from the book. If you still haven’t picked up a copy, I’d love it if you’d do so here.

If you haven’t read the book and aren’t super interested in something that long, these 10 things should still be helpful to you.

Here are 10 things I try to do every day that help me to find joy in a seemingly vain life:

1. I strive to begin each day with thanksgiving for another day.

In light of Ecclesiastes 11:7, “Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.” I try to have my first thought of the day, even before getting out of bed, to be gratitude for another day. Life is a gift. Each day is a blessing that is hand-crafted by my Creator.

2. I have a routine for morning self-talk.

I know for many it might seem silly, and I used to roll my eyes at the concept altogether. However, I have found this practice very helpful. Your brain will believe what you tell it to believe—trust me.

With this, I try to “renew my mind” with a few truths that I need to hear and believe. A few of my daily affirmations are found below:

• I am a joyous person. Today I will control my perspective and choose joy.

• If things don’t go according to my plans, I will trust that God’s plans are better and that He is working all things together for my good.

• Today is a gift from God that I will not squander with a bad attitude.

• Today I will fear God and enjoy the ride.

These help to orient my perspective for the day. People create their own sayings all the time, try it.

3. I have a practice of filling out a daily gratitude journal.

Every morning after my morning prayer time, I handwrite at least one thing that I am thankful for.

A gratitude journal ends up being a huge list of reasons why my life is awesome. If I ever feel down, I have this massive vault of evidence that proves I am blessed. I begin each entry with, “I am thankful...” and end it with, “I am blessed.”

This is not a prosperity gospel, health and wealth sort of deal. It’s simply acknowledging that God has been gooder to me than I deserve.

4. I thank God genuinely for my food and strive to find little things that I enjoy regularly.

I genuinely believe coffee is a gift from God. I also regularly thank God when I have raspberry jelly on my morning toast. Raspberries are awesome. You can find extraordinary in the ordinary if you’re willing to see it.

5. I try to use the “I get to” mentality (as I share about in Chapter 7) for things that can drain me.

Thankfully, there are very few things in my life presently that really fit this. I really love what I do. However, I still try to remind myself every Sunday, for example, that I get to preach.

Some weeks, it can feel a bit burdensome when the week has been long, and I’m not as prepared as I’d like to be. It is nonetheless a great blessing and privilege.

6. When life seems particularly dark, I try to remind myself of the eternal tomorrow that is to come.

All suffering in this life is temporary. The apostle Paul put it best:

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).

In light of eternity, the suffering of this life is of little consequence and is very momentary. That perspective really helps when hardship feels like it’s eternal. It’s not.

7. When I’m feeling down, it can be helpful to ask why.

The psalmist gives a great example of this in Psalm 42. Essentially, the question is not why am I down, but instead, “Why am I so down when my God is so good?”

We can always choose to respond to despair, whether it is justified or not with the self-exhortation “Hope in God.”

8. My family and I strive to spend intentional unplugged family time together, at least once a week.

Monday nights are a nonnegotiable night together. We don’t schedule things where we are apart. Likewise, to the best of our ability, we try to spend the time at home or doing something fun together if we are out.

9. I limit my social media intake.

I recently summarized Facebook as being “a waste of time that is fraught with negativity.” I stand by my words. We weren’t supposed to have this illusion of omniscience. As I mention in Chapter 3, bad news sells. It’s not good for us. Unplug.

The most helpful tool I have found of late is an app called “Onesec.” It adds a solid one-second delay on “blocked” apps when you try to open them. Then it asks you whether or not you really want to get on... [Facebook.]

My answer 99.9% of the time is, “No. I really don’t want to be doing this. It’s just a bad habit.” This app has been the most helpful implementation for me in limiting screen time.

While I still use Facebook on my computer here and there, I don’t scroll on my phone anymore at all. I never really wanted to, I just did out of a bad habit. I was never on my phone for hours, but it was still time squandered that I have now gotten back.

10. I try to give myself grace—sometimes life is hard, and I’m just tired.

I have found on a regular basis that I am much more like Elijah than I’d like to admit.(Triumphs lead to depression and a death wish). Some days when I feel down, it’s not because I need to change my life; it’s just because I need to sleep.

Usually, a night or two of ensuring I have eight hours fixes most of my blues.

In Conclusion:

I am a recovering Eeyore, and as I mention in my book, I’m not quite bouncing like Tigger yet. Nevertheless, I am light-years more joyful than I used to be.

The book of Ecclesiastes really helped me come face to face with the things that I would like to change but can’t. With this, it helped me to choose joy in the midst of vanity. We have more control over our perspective than we often realize.

These things have helped me on my journey, I pray they help you on yours.

If you haven’t grabbed a copy of my book, I truly believe that it will be a blessing to you. I didn’t write the subtitle “How Ecclesiastes Changed My Life & Could Change Yours Too” without really meaning it. If any of these 10 things resonated with you at all, then the book probably will too.

Lastly, if you did buy my book, and managed to read it. I would love to hear if it helped you, and if you’re willing I would love it if you’d leave a review on Amazon.

Thanks, and God bless.