I’m deliberately finding joy for 40 days. To start from day one click here.
Yesterday as my husband and I left for dinner I thought, “I should have put on perfume” Then I recalled a bottle of Clinique Happy I had in our bathroom cabinet…
photo by Clinique
I got this perfume around the time we were married. I kept meaning to use it. I’d think, “This is just an ordinary day–I should save it for a special occasion.” Every once in awhile I would allow myself a little bit but most often it stayed hidden away.
Then one day I decided I’d use it all the time. I pulled it out and sprayed. But it didn’t smell the same. After years of being left saved up it had lost the fragrance I loved.
I realized I often do the same with the happy (joy) in my life. I think, “I need to save it up. I can’t be joyful over this little thing. I should wait for something big.” I somehow fear that joy can be used up and then when I need it most it will be gone.
I allow myself a little joy here and there but I have this fear of spraying it with abandon, embracing it every day, letting it be the perfume that sweetens my life and the lives of those around me.
But what if I get to the end of my life and realize my joy bottle is still full but it’s too late to use it?
I wore Happy when my husband I were dating, and every time I smelled it I thought of him.
I want joy to remind me of the Lover of My Soul too. After all, it’s His gift to me.
So I’m choosing to pull joy out from the cabinet of my heart and let its sweet scent remind me of the One who brings every blessing to my life.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one thing that brings you joy. I’ll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the next forty days. And you never know when it could be you…
