"Joy, much more than the absence of discomfort"

 "Joy is much more than the absence of discomfort,"(Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson) a concept powerfully expressed in this book. 

Yet how often have I made this mistake? "I'm feeling something uncomfortable-- pain, disappointment, fear--, therefore, I can't have joy."

This struggle to comprehend the opportunities for joy that already exist in my life amidst the "discomfort" is captured and challenged in my recently revisited mantra from last year:

Philippians 4:11"...I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 

12 "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 

13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

I can realize joy.