Joy in new babies!

An online friend, Kayleigh had a sweet little baby girl a couple of days ago. In the days running up to (and past) her due date, she  was excited and anxious and nesting! It was so much fun to share her joy.  Kayleigh posted back with some newborn pictures and this statement:

Oh I didn’t know being a mother was so amazing. You guys should of let me in on this secret a long time ago. Thank you everyone, she is doing amazing!

This baby is going to have a very happy life

My post on Joy today is going to be my wish for this new baby. I hope and wish that this little girl has a life of joy. May she and her parents love each other, admire each other and share their hopes and dreams together. May each day begin and end with smiles and hugs. May she always know how much her mother and father adore her!

Joy in the Little Things

I realized this morning that I hadn’t posted in a while about any Joy! This past week felt kind of tough. The shooting in Tucson had me upset. I am an admitted “politics junkie” and this was not a happy political week. Lately, no week is a happy one, or a positive one, but as far as weeks go on the “kindness” scale… yeah, I don’t know why I even bothered writing that….

But this post isn’t about politics, but Joy! I looking back on the past few days, I have felt Joy in the little things. Here is a quick list of some moments that stand out:

• seeing a sunrise
• a hot shower after shoveling snow
• making my kids cinnamon rolls and being appreciated for that
• enjoying some yummy rosemary bread with my mother-in-law
• getting unsolicited hugs from both of my kids
• being with my mom
• cuddling with my dogs
• talking with friends

Nope, nothing truly earth shattering but the joy is in each of those moments. Sometimes it just has to be teased out  a bit to be felt.

 

Joy! is to be Spread

One of the nicer things I have seen recently is that this whole deal with focusing on Joy is making me want to spread some joy too. It’s not all about me, really!  Today I was supposed to meet up with mom. All she asked for on her birthday was for me to teach her how to use her digital camera and her new GSP system. Weather forecast called for snow, so we decided yesterday that we would reschedule for some day next week. I felt bad that I wouldn’t get to see her since we both were looking forward to the day.

After work yesterday, I started to realize that I was only 20 minutes from her house. I could drive from work, to see her, hang out for a quick cup of coffee , then head home. yeah, I was pretty tired and cold and wanted to get home, but I knew that surprising my mom would make her happy.

That short visit with my mom and dad, made her very happy. I was able to see her for a bit and let her know that she means a lot to me. She and my dad had to bicker a bit and that makes me laugh, especially when I have to chime in on the madness.

Yes, joy is found within, but it also can be spread to those people around you.

Joy found?? At night, outside, in the cold?

Yes my favorite blog readers, I did find joy. Joy,  mixed with some peace and awe, and in one of my most unlikeliest of times and places, no less.

Last night, I was driving home after dropping Cait off at gymnastics. I live in the boonies of North Jersey and the sky was so clear and you could see so many stars. Then “Imagine” came on the radio…..it was such a peaceful moment, looking at the stars, a beautiful song. I pulled into my driveway, got out of my car and just looked up. I didn’t feel cold and cranky – I felt a bit of joy and awe at the Universe.

I found my Word!

It’s a good one. Joy. Actually, how about this.. Joy! I had thought about several words, but my friend, Merkee, wrote this:

Joy rarely just happens and is a choice we make. You can perceive joy in anything, even our trials. The socks you mention in gratitude for example, yes it’s a mundane chore for a simple thing but you can choose to be joyful that they are soft or that they make your feet feel so good and keep your toesies warm or that you had fun the day you went shopping for them.

I do not like doing laundry but I love the feel of warm clothes out of the dryer. Sometimes I will just drape a towel over my shoulders and savor the warmth it brings. This is a small joy. There could be lots and lots more reasons for something so simple to be a joy and bring a smile. It can be a very short lived joy but look for the little joys in your day to day.

Is that not completely wise? Yet so simple! I am focusing on how to create Joy! int he simple things. This morning, I had to make coffee. One of my peeves is that no one ever (ok- 99.9% of the time) sets up the coffee pot. So most mornings, if I forget to do it the night before, I grumble my way through setting it to brew. This morning, I breathed in the coffee as I set it up- what a great smell! That little bit changed my attitude so much, it was like— ahhhhhhhhh, coffeeeeee!! instead of @*&%*$ No one made the coffee for me

I hope that i can continue to see the joy in everything throughout this year. I hope that all of you can too.