I’m deliberately looking for joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
It seems joy is easier to find on some days than others. I woke up feeling exhausted and wanting nothing more than to pull the covers back over my head. Ever have one of those days?
Then this afternoon I went to a creative off-site at the home of one of my coworkers. The ceramic token above was in my seat when I arrived. It’s from Blessings Unlimited and months ago I helped create the set for them.
The words jumped out at me, cutting through the fog that had drifted around me all day.
I realized again how true they are…I am blessed.
I held the tiny token in my hand and I remembered that most of the blessings in life aren’t the big ones. Instead they’re so small that they’re easy to miss. Joy doesn’t come blazing in all at once…instead it shows up bit-by-bit.
As I thought about this, I realized I’d had joy in my day–kind e-mails, time with friends, a kiss from my husband as I walked out the door. Yet these joys are so ordinary that I tend to take them for granted. Then I complain about not having joy in my life when I’m surrounded by it every moment.
I grasped the token and squeezed it for a moment, silently whispering a prayer and wishing I hadn’t wasted so much of the day with my mood.
And when I finally let go I realized my heart had begun to take hold of joy again.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one little 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…
