When I was in school I dreamed about Summer all year long. My friends and I would spend those long Summer days exploring the “woods” around our houses and hang out in the backyards of ours and neighbors houses. It was a time for the joy of just being a child of the universe and our imaginations allowed us to explore every inch of it! The one feeling that lingers from those long days of Summer was joy!
Joy is one of the lost treasures of childhood. But this joy was not taken away from us by adulthood, it was given up under the misguided impression that we were trading it for happiness of a different, more grown-up kind. I will grant that the joy of the child and the adult can be quite different in type, but it is quite similar in the consequences.
Joy means experiencing great pleasure or happiness. It provides us with the ability to look forward to our day. It opens our eyes to wonder and our hearts to laughter. It reveals a world that is more than responsibilities and routines. It awakens our spirit to the unsought but nonetheless welcome surprises that come with exploring our world. Joy reminds us that each day is a gift that cries out to be unwrapped. Even the bows and ribbons invite us to playfully experience joy!
I hope that you will do your best to find Joy for the next few months. If you have the opportunity to travel, allow joy to be your closest travel companion. If you are unable to travel, invite joy into your home and allow it to introduce you to its friends; hope, surprise, wonder, and spontaneity. When we were children we found joy in a child’s summer. But now, as adults, may we find even greater joy in our grown-up summers. May joy surround your days and fill your life this Summer.
Joy is one of the lost treasures of childhood. But this joy was not taken away from us by adulthood, it was given up under the misguided impression that we were trading it for happiness of a different, more grown-up kind. I will grant that the joy of the child and the adult can be quite different in type, but it is quite similar in the consequences.
Joy means experiencing great pleasure or happiness. It provides us with the ability to look forward to our day. It opens our eyes to wonder and our hearts to laughter. It reveals a world that is more than responsibilities and routines. It awakens our spirit to the unsought but nonetheless welcome surprises that come with exploring our world. Joy reminds us that each day is a gift that cries out to be unwrapped. Even the bows and ribbons invite us to playfully experience joy!
I hope that you will do your best to find Joy for the next few months. If you have the opportunity to travel, allow joy to be your closest travel companion. If you are unable to travel, invite joy into your home and allow it to introduce you to its friends; hope, surprise, wonder, and spontaneity. When we were children we found joy in a child’s summer. But now, as adults, may we find even greater joy in our grown-up summers. May joy surround your days and fill your life this Summer.
TIPS
EnJoy -- For the next few months draw pleasure or happiness from these days. Drink in the joy of the sunshine and summer visitors. Feast on the hours spent contemplating the stars at night and the clouds by day. Breathe deeply from the gentle breeze that carries the very fragrance of Summer blooms. Allow Summer joy to infuse your daily living and fill your soul. But do not stop there.
InJoy -- Allow that inner glow of pleasure or happiness to warm your memories. Allow that joy to awaken the voices of family and friends whose voices have fallen silent. Savor moments of remembrances that speak to who you are and the roots from which you grew. Cherish the abundance of Summer joy as it carries you to that inner sanctuary where you rediscover all that is good about your life. But do not linger even here, there is more you can do.
ReJoy - Let that pleasure or happiness overflow into the people and places around you. In doing so you with ReJoy your life and offer others the gift of joy as well. Plant those flowers that the world may be filled with color. Grow those vegetables that others may be sustained in their journey. Smile with the stranger and awaken joy in their soul. Give your family and friends the gift of time and attention as you share the precious gift of life and love.
EnJoy, InJoy, and ReJoy the pleasure and happiness of Summer!
InJoy -- Allow that inner glow of pleasure or happiness to warm your memories. Allow that joy to awaken the voices of family and friends whose voices have fallen silent. Savor moments of remembrances that speak to who you are and the roots from which you grew. Cherish the abundance of Summer joy as it carries you to that inner sanctuary where you rediscover all that is good about your life. But do not linger even here, there is more you can do.
ReJoy - Let that pleasure or happiness overflow into the people and places around you. In doing so you with ReJoy your life and offer others the gift of joy as well. Plant those flowers that the world may be filled with color. Grow those vegetables that others may be sustained in their journey. Smile with the stranger and awaken joy in their soul. Give your family and friends the gift of time and attention as you share the precious gift of life and love.
EnJoy, InJoy, and ReJoy the pleasure and happiness of Summer!
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