The Season of Joy

by Terri

Joy. A feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

Joy. Such a simple word. Just three little letters but when put together they mean so much. And that’s what I would like to concentrate on this month, finding joy. Tying in last month’s focus on gratitude with this month’s focus on joy is this quote by the wonderful Brene Brown:

“I will practice gratitude to access joy. I will stop and take notice of those small things

 that make my life better, the things that are easy to overlook until they are gone.”

It’s so easy to become overwhelmed during this time of year with all the “to dos” on our lists. Sometimes it seems like an impossible chore to get it all done in time. The shopping, the decorating, the wrapping, the meal planning, the cooking and baking, etc. It can really be overwhelming.

In one of my December posts last year, I talked about not falling into the “perfection trap”.  You can read about that here if you missed it. My favorite comment on that post was by our friend Claudia Wrightson.  She wrote:

 

“Being the perfect Christmas mom for tooo many years, I realized that my "perfect" decorations were not what they remembered or loved. It was the little quiet moments of the season. :) Once I heard one of my neighbors kids say... "yeah, my mom is kind of insane around Christmas... its scary." I was sooo thankful for that little voice of wisdom. I changed a lot of how I proceeded with the holiday after that.”

Wow, did that ever hit home with me! But more than just loosening up a little and not expecting so much of myself, this year I want to actively seek out the joyful moments and even try to create some. I began to think of the things that bring me the most joy and I made a list. It all starts with reconnecting to the moments that mean the most to you, and making sure you make time to fully experience their magic. I try to do as many of the things on my “joy list” as I can. These things are the things that are important to me, the things that bring me joy. The rest I can do if and when I have time, but I give myself permission to not do them at all. Here are a few of the things that I want to make sure to make time for, things that bring me joy.  

From the upper left, they are:

1.     Taking photos of Christmas decorations.

2.     Baking all kinds of goodies . . . and eating them!

3.     Sitting by the lighted tree at night.

4.     Making cards for gifts from my photos.

5.     Visiting the Desert Botanical Gardens for the Luminarias.

6.     Creating a “December Daily” album of holiday happenings.

7.     Taking my grandson to Macy’s to write his letter to Santa.

8.     Shopping at one of our beautifully decorated outdoor malls.

What are some of the things you enjoy the most about the holiday season? I know when I slow down and really focus on those things, I enjoy everything so much more. 

So my challenge to you this month is to seek out moments of joy. Make a list of the things you enjoy the most about the holidays and make sure you make time for them. Perfection is overrated . . . seeking joy is what it’s all about!

Please share with us either here in the comments, on our Facebook page, or in the Flickr group or Flickr Phoneography group what things you are going to make time for this holiday season, the things that bring you joy.  If you are on Instagram, make sure to tag your photos with #focusingonlife and share your joyful moments this month with us. And I just want to tell you all how joyful it makes me to have you sharing this space with us. Happy December, everyone!