J is for Joy by Conlee Ricketts A to Z Challenge!

J is for Joy

Be joyful today!  This is your tenth day of your 26 Days to Practice Peace.  If you have placed your focus on any of the previous nine words I am hopeful that you found joy or comfort at some point during that day. 

Being joyful is something that feels “bouncier” than being happy does—to me.  I don’t know why that is.  A smiling baby seems to embody joy.  My big Newfoundland Mix, Grover, seems joyful when he hops around in the snow like a 80 pound bunny rabbit.  Joy seems to have a distinct look and feel to it. 

Before I headed back to the working world a few weeks ago I stood at the kitchen door watching my daughter walk across the yard, out the gate, across the street toward her friend’s house, looking back to wave multiple times on her way to school.  I felt joy watching her.  It was different than just being happy, it was both a knowing and appreciating that these moments would soon be gone and that I had better soak up the feelings of these mornings and make them last.  Me standing at that door is something we had done every morning since the day she let me know it was not cool to have her mom walk her to school anymore, but since it was coming to an end I just felt so joyful watching her head off to school knowing I’m her Mom.

“Tears of joy” is also something I cherish.  A moment so wonderful that your eyes leak; there is nothing quite like that.  Tears of sorrow or shame sting my eyes; they have a distinct burn as they well up in my eyes. They make it too cloudy to see as I typically try to hide my face and walk away.  Not tears of joy though, they are light, crystal clear, and almost refreshing. 

I am trying to think of a recent moment that I had tears of joy--exercising my imagination—but I am struggling at the moment.  The reason is simply because I have had a lot of those painful stinging tears lately.  Now you know why I needed to start writing my 26 Days to Practice Peace.

I will focus on joy today.  The joy I feel when I see my child after work, the joy I feel when I know I made a difference in someone’s day, the joy I feel when I make someone laugh at work with my goofy comments, and the joy I feel when I watch my daughter from across the room while she is busy being a child.

I wish each of you all the joy in the world today.

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