Joy. What is joy? It’s different for everyone. For some, joy is having lots of things. For others, it’s going on vacation. Still others find joy in simply being with the ones they love. And that’s the beauty of it, whatever joy is to you, it’s okay. Find it in your everyday life, enjoy it fully, and let others do the same without judgment.
Joy Changes With Life
Joy can come in so many different forms. When I was younger, joy seemed effortless. it seemed always present. Why wouldn’t it be? I had no responsibilities, a cozy bed to sleep in, and dinner made by my mom every night. But as we get older and life happens, joy doesn’t always feel constant or the same.
And then the questions begin: “Am I supposed to feel joyful 24/7?” When we don’t, we begin to overthink things. We wonder if joy depends on getting “this” or “that.”
That’s how it was for me. I thought things might bring joy. They didn’t. (I have to clarify: I’ve always been joyful by nature.) But I quickly realized joy doesn’t come from stuff.
Joy Through Motherhood
Then I had children. My first child brought me joy like I’d never known before, after the initial shock of realizing I was now responsible for another little person. For four years, that joy filled my heart.
Then came my second child. His birth was different. He was born with many challenges, and we didn’t know what his future would hold. At first, it didn’t feel like joy. But over time, through him, I discovered a very different kind of joy.
A Shift in Perspective
Years before I became a mother, I would frequently see a woman and her daughter walking in the mall near my home. The girl, about 15 at the time, struggled to walk. For years, I would see them together, the mother determined, the daughter improving ever, ever so slightly over the years. I remember thinking, “How sad, that this poor girl can’t walk well.”
Fast forward 15 years, and I was still seeing them, mother and daughter, still walking together. The mother much older, the wear and difficulty of the years on her face and the daughter still challenged, but stronger.
And then my second son was born. He walked very late. And now, we too go to that same mall. We walk. We practice. He works hard. His walking improves a bit each year, just like that little girl that we would see. And I walk with him, just like that mother. I see things so differently now. Now I know. Instead of thinking, “Poor thing, she can’t walk well,” I think, “Wow, how very hard she must have worked to walk this well.”
Life has a way of changing your perspective doesn't it? Life does reveal. It has reveled joy, real, true joy. Joy for me is found in the tiny accomplishments my son makes. For another parent, these accomplishments may just seem like part of their child's normal development. For me, every single small step feels like he has moved mountains.
For me, this is joy. OH, WHAT JOY IT IS!
