As a practitioner in joy, I share 31 brief but powerful daily readings to incite and inspire.

1. JOYFUL
DAYS
HAPPEN
CHUKWUKERE EKEH
D A I L Y I N S P I R A T I O N
W R I T T E N B Y

2. Introduction
Ancient wisdom tells us that you can be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. So right now, an incredible moment
lies before you. I genuinely believe each day is an
opportunity and its outcome is molded (for better or worse)
by the hands it is placed in. I have chosen and will continue
to choose to bring faith, joy, and optimism in my own life
and I am hoping these short daily reads incite you to do the
same. These are best read starting in the morning and
read repetitously throughout your day.
Sincerely, A Practitioner in Joy
Chukwukere Ekeh

3. Day 1
Where you were yesterday does not dictate where you
must go today. No matter the tough breaks, regrets, or
failures of the past, you have the ability to make a gift of
the present. Hold your head high and walk bravely into
today.
“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
­ George Eliot

4. Day 2
Obstacles are merely doors. One must find the way
through them to reach their true destination. Don’t be
discouraged by the challenge. Accept it and overcome it.
“In the depths of winter, I learned that there was within me
an invincible summer.”
­ Albert Camus

5. Day 3
If you ever hope to grasp true happiness you must be
willing to let go of the pains and jealously that your heart is
clinging to. Forgiveness of yourself and others allows room
for peace, joy, and fulfillment.
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the
prisoner was you.”
­ Lewis B. Smedes

6. Day 4
When you learn to love as freely and often as you can, to
as many people as you can, something remarkable
happens. The universe rewards you with all the love you
have given plus interest!
“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness
never decreases by being shared.”
­ Buddha

7. Day 5
Forge new roads, wander, try something new! Life was not
made for ease but for exploration. Don’t let today end
without living a little.
“Life without endeavor is like entering a jewel mine and
coming out with empty hands.”
­ Japanese Proverb

8. Day 6
Realize the value in every moment of today. Cherish the
things and people that make you feel wholly yourself. Don’t
overlook the small joys that are taken for granted daily.
“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that
makes happiness.”
­ Charles Spurgeon

9. Day 7
Whatever you choose to do or undertake today fully
commit yourself to it. Pour yourself into what matters most
in your life without being indecisive.
“I don’t do things half­heartedly. Because I know if I do,
then I can expect half­hearted results.”
­ Michael Jordan

10. Day 8
Did you know that a jet expends more energy to get off the
ground than it does to stay in flight? Today is perfect day to
get started. The key to accomplishment is to begin.
“The start is what stops most people.”
­ Don Shula

11. Day 9
This present moment is the only time in which you have
any power or control. Neither the past nor future currently
exist. All must face unpredictable circumstances but we
have the ability to respond and grow today. Carpe Diem
(seize the day)!
“I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested
only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the
present, you’ll be a happy person. Life will be a party for
you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re
living now.”
­ Paulo Coelho

12. Day 10
As people we all have dreams and hopes we never pursue
because we are too afraid. At a conference a gentleman
shared with me a statement he wrote in a journal, “yes, in
advance”, in order to urge himself throughout his future to
simply try. Say yes to yourself, your dreams, and your
future aspirations today.
“Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don’t think
of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that
you retire.”
­ Samuel Johnson

13. Day 11
Happiness is a choice made daily and the result of not
making it will be that the decision will be made by others
for you. Choose to focus on and pour yourself into things
that bring joy to your life while adding value to all those
who surround you.
“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise
man grows it under his feet.”
­ James Oppenheim

14. Day 12
An optimist and pessimist may face the same
circumstances but the difference is what they choose to
focus on. An optimist seeks to find the good but a
pessimist lingers on the problems. Have you been focusing
on and seeking the positives in your life? Shift your
attitude.
“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
­ Chinese Proverb

15. Day 13
Is there a good enough excuse to live a mediocre life? Is
there a reason to not attempt to love those you care about?
Are you so intent on being safe that you risk not becoming
the extraordinary person you are meant to be? Give up the
excuses and start experiencing life.
“Listen to the mustn’t, child. Listen to the dont’s. Listen to
the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the wont’s. Listen to the
never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can
happen, child. Anything can be.”
­ Shel Silverstein

16. Day 14
Don’t look at the costs, the difficulties, and the roadblocks
associated with becoming a better person and living your
dreams. Affix your eyes to your "why", the very reason you
must continue to grow and develop. Life has great cost to
living but it is left up to you to make the benefits of living be
more valuable than the price it asks you to pay.
“You measure the size of accomplishment by obstacles
you had to overcome to reach your goals.”
­ Booker T. Washington

17. Day 15
The only person you should compare yourself to is the
person in the mirror. You can only be all you can be. So
improve yourself day by day and in a month or a year you
will be amazed how the progress adds up. Attempt to
outdo yourself daily.
“When I let go of what I am and I become what I might be.”
­ Lao Tzu

18. Day 16
Seek to understand others as much as you hope to be
understood. Living and working with so many unique and
complex people calls for you to change perspectives.
Though we’re all looking at the world, we tend to see and
interpret things differently. As the old saying goes, "walk a
mile in their shoes" before judging them.
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
­ Anais Nin

19. Day 17
Wake up each morning with excitement and end every day
with gratitude. Tomorrow does not come with a guarantee.
So may we learn to live with each moment as if it’s a
superb beginning and glorious end. Master this and you will
not have a lack of good days or positive thoughts.
“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if
you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”
­ George Lorimer

20. Day 18
Dare to venture out! Sometimes we get so comfortable and
stuck in our ways and habits that we miss out on all that life
has to offer. It has been said that "known hells are
preferred to strange heavens". Do something that excites
you, that is new and spontaneous. Life is a journey, don’t
be too afraid to take it.
“We must not cease from exploration and the end of our
exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the
place for the first time.”
­ T.S. Eliot

21. Day 19
To believe in yourself regardless of the odds is necessary,
not only in terms of confidence but making the most of
yourself. Before you accomplish your dreams you must
convince someone you deserve it, the person who must be
convinced is YOU. Once you are committed to a
meaningful pursuit, others will follow.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
­ Theodore Roosevelt

22. Day 20
There was a country club that had these beautiful
expensive trees. They watered them daily for upkeep. Yet,
they had a problem. Whenever there a strong wind it would
knock one of the trees to the ground. They called in a
specialist and his solution was to stop watering the trees.
His reasoning was because the trees had never struggled,
the roots were shallow and had a weak foundation. The
lesson being that without failure, pain, and struggle, we
can’t grow and learn to become the strongest version of
ourselves.
“Rock bottom became the foundation upon which I rebuilt
my life.”
­J.K. Rowling

23. Day 21
Stop waiting for opportunity, search for it. Then if it cannot
be found, create it! You might have heard the saying good
things come to those who wait, they are mistaken. Good
things come to those who work.
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
­ Milton Berle

24. Day 22
The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself!
Worry is the leading cause of stress, anger, and negativity.
We must learn to think in terms of possible vs. probable.
Many things are possible but many times they are
improbable. Could a large meteor hit the planet? Sure. Is it
likely? Not so much. Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives
you something to do but gets you nowhere. Rid yourself of
this disease.
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never
happened.”
­ Mark Twain

25. Day 23
The key to loving people is to be selfless and not selfish in
your actions. Keep others best interests at heart and
encourage them to pursue happiness even if it may lead
them away from you.
“Love does not dishonor others, it is not self­seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.”
­ 1 Corinthians 13:5

26. Day 24
Be at peace. As this world becomes more busy and so
cluttered we tend to overwhelm ourselves. To learn to be
still and quiet amongst the chaos will allow you to
persistently stay joyful, focused, and at peace. The master
in the art of living knows that balance isn’t just nice to have,
it is a necessity.
“You should feel beautiful and you should feel safe. What
you surround yourself with should bring you peace of mind
and peace of spirit.”
­ Stacy London

27. Day 25
Your reputation is who people think you are but your
character is who you actually are. Discover and find your
core values such as honesty, kindness, generosity,
patience, etc. and align with them. When you know who
you are and what you stand for it makes standing firm in
life a little easier.
“Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become
your words, your words become your actions, your actions
become your habits, your habits become your values, your
values become your destiny.”
­ Mahatma Gandhi

28. Day 26
Success is what we all hope to have attained by the end of
our lives but it is determined by today. Success is best
defined as a daily pursuit of your passions with the people
you love, free of insecurity and fear and fear in the present.
This is simple but not easy, live your life in such a way that
you will fulfill that definition.
“Either write something worth reading or do something
worth writing.”
­ Benjamin Franklin

29. Day 27
Giving up is the easy way out. Quitting is the addiction of
the mediocre. Ease is forgotten but effort is admired. Don’t
ask if it’s hard work, but ask will the work bring worth. If you
learn to always give 100% it leaves no room for regret. The
only way a person truly fails in life is to stop trying.
“You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by
staying there.”
­ Edwin Louis Cole

30. Day 28
Let go of your past or it may ruin your present. If you don’t
value the present you will ruin your future. Time is the most
valuable and most wasted resource known to man. Cherish
the moment while you have it because once time is lost it
won’t be found again.
“The best thing about the future is that is comes one day at
a time.”
­ Abraham Lincoln

31. Day 29
Always keep hope. It’s the only thing more powerful than
fear. Those who fill their very being with hope directly
connect themselves with more peace, happiness, and
positivity.
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose
infinite hope.”
­ Martin Luther King Jr.

32. Day 30
Your life reflects a calendar year in the way it goes by in
seasons. The Spring where you sow and things begin to
grow, Summer where you work and nurture, Autumn where
you gather and reap what you’ve sown, and a Winter you
must endure. Learn the cycles of life and since you can’t
change the seasons learn to adapt and take action.
“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no
happiness without action.”
­ Benjamin Disraeli

33. Day 31
Reflect. Every so often we must take a step back and look
at our lives. You’ll see moments of joy and pain, triumph
and defeat, love and loss. Yet though they didn’t make
sense at the time, you begin to see how they have
impacted you and molded you into the person you’re
becoming. So look but don’t linger, this reflection is merely
preparation for moving forward.
“Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he
thinks into it.”
­ Ernest Holmes

34. A Posse Ad Esse
The latin phrase titling the conclusion is translated "from
possibility to actuality". It's time for you to stop thinking and
start living joyfully. Your journey doesn’t cease on day 31.
It begins again every morning! So take control of your
thoughts and thereby grabbing the reins of life and
becoming all you ever dreamed of!
Now share this with a friend who needs more joy.

35. About the Author
Chukwukere Ekeh is a practitioner of joy who's
mission is to leverage his ability of
encouragement and creativity to empower
people to change the world. His only hope is to
reveal the true hope which he found in his
savior Jesus Christ. His other passions include
speaking, marketing, singing too often, and
traveling.
Contact: chuwkukere_ekeh@yahoo.com
Instagram/Twitter QualityEkeh