Author: awomanwhochosejoy

“Finding a Joy moment in the unexpected,” isn’t a popular subject right now, with the Covid-19 crisis, but maybe this blog is for just one person to be encouraged. So, on this beautiful first full day of Spring, I took this long walk in the woods and made my kids go. 😊 They wanted to turn back after awhile but I decided to continue to walk. Then I have to be honest, I was really questioning my whole having “Joy” ability. In the middle of my walk, my son, who has his 22nd birthday today, texted me and was feeling sad. It started me on this journey opposite of joy…I started thinking all that was lost: My job with Lancaster Living that I had loved, my daughter’s senior year, the worry for my kids and their college classes, my fiancé’s businesses, he spent a life time creating and all of his employees, my future step kids, all those who have lost love ones world wide, the burdens on our leaders,(I wouldn’t want that burden!) my church home, the rest of my family and friends, the stress of being a single mom and all the fear people have promoted around this virus with “worse case scenarios”…and to be honest, It all just seemed too much. So, I stopped for a moment in the woods. All I could hear was the wind and birds, I tried to remember my “before Covid-19” world. All of this time, I haven’t shed many tears over this. But I did now. And I felt bad for crying because I know others have lost way more than I have. I continued in the woods and came upon this log that had fallen. In the middle of this 100 acres with no houses around, stood this little daffodil that had survived being crushed by this fallen log. I felt my heart explode with joy because it was so unexpected. Did this change my situation? No, but I know somehow, maybe all of us can find one “Joy moment” in the unexpected.

Is it too late for me to choose a 2020 theme for my life? 2019 I had this theme …”Choose Joy. “ And how that simple thought has breathed life into my soul over and over again. But now, this thought hit me full force this morning. I was thinking about my life, my decisions, my goals all morning only to gather my journal and realize that it stated my theme for 2020 right in front of me. “Find What Brings you Joy and Go There!”

I think in this journey I’ve been on for the last 5 years, I have found something out about myself and others. Lots of us know what could potentially bring us Joy. We can even share with each other easily…”this is what brings me joy.” But here is the hard part, the tough part, the part that most are too scared to pursue! It’s the second part to this thought that we dismiss, and that is ….”Go There!” I laugh as I write this because no one does this perfectly. I mean, here I am writing this blog to encourage others to embrace this theme but in the same moment, I even had failure today embracing this. But I never want to look back and see that my Joy was right there, just one step away, but I just couldn’t bring myself to step over the barriers to “go there. “ So…I will tell you a funny, very unassuming story that happened to me this morning. I went early to my coffee pot and discovered 2 day old coffee, you know the kind that has the skim already forming. And I had this thought…”I want new coffee but I agonized over throwing out the old.” I knew what would bring me joy, but I hesitated. But what I was going to let go of….it didn’t really matter in the whole scheme of my morning. I literally went back and forth and finally grabbed it and dumped the old coffee out and started the new. That first cup of coffee hit me with such joy. And I had this thought! Why did I even hesitate? What makes us hesitate in even larger decisions to “Find out, What Brings You Joy and Go There. It’s not too late, you aren’t too old, you don’t have to answer to those who don’t understand your joy. They have their own journey. And this is kind of hard to swallow…but lots of people will embrace you when you tell them what brings you joy. But it’s a totally different story when you start to really “Go There!” Believe me, I’ve lived trying to shield my heart with the negative people who can’t grasp the idea of me actually “going there.” You smile, you encourage and when others “Find what brings them Joy and Go There. “ You celebrate, you have this heart connection with them, and it’s beautiful. P.S. Best coffee ever. ❤️