My 90 day Joyous Journey ended last week and I gave myself a few days of reflection before writing about it. As always, 90 days flew by. I would like to take a moment to extend my heartfelt thanks to Wanda Herriman and her daughter for inspiring me to take this on - what a very cool experience to have shared with you.
I feel changed. The experts say that it takes 21 days to change a bad habit or develop a new one - I spent 3.5 times that focusing on joy and I would say it has definitely become a habit.
I've learned that it's true, you truly do find what you are looking for. As I focused on seeing joy, I did. Not every second of the day, but more often than I had in 'normal' life. And, it was contagious in my home. My kids would ask me about my joys and would suggest things that should be my joy for the day. Sometimes, I would ask them about what brought them joy in their day - a new conversation for us. I liked that joy was the central focus for my day, every day.
Since I stopped posting, I'm quite pleased to say that I haven't stopped noticing the things that bring me joy, I feel joy a lot - many times per day, every day.
As I looked over my posts, it was interesting for me to observe the things that brought me joy. People, my connections with people are what consistently bring joy to my life. This isn't a surprise to me, I think what was cool to see is how many wonderful people I am connected to and how each and every one of them add joy in some way to my life. I found myself wanting to take pictures many times per day as I had different moments with different people throughout the day.
Even the objects that I took pictures of or the music that I posted about - they brought me joy because of the people that they are connected to. My grandma's writing desk - joy because I know what it meant to my grandma and I love that we share a passion for writing. Music - because every song takes me to a point of time and the memory of the people that I was surrounded by at that time.
I'm also more aware now of how much I enjoy my alone time - the joy comes from being quiet and peaceful. Before this journey, I didn't realize peace and joy were as interconnected as they are for me. I used to think it was weird that I like my alone time because I enjoy my time with people so much and that didn't seem to make any sense - but now I see it as the yin to my yan. Being alone keeps me balanced. It's a bit of a 'fuel up', making it possible for me to be 100% present (or close to it) when I am with others and available for listening. I know the value of deep listening because I have felt it and I know that that kind of listening is absolutely not possible when you are preoccupied with your own stuff. My kids were off school last week and I really noticed my lack of space and how much less present I was. This is a hugely important learning for me as I move forward in the next choices I make.
Thank you for joining me in my journey. I really enjoyed knowing that you were with me in it and your likes and comments kept me motivated to keep sharing. If you've never tried it, I truly encourage you to undertake your own joyous journey. You may still see the occasional post from me and I would love to see yours:).
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