And here we are again, gathered together to PAR-TAY and share our WHYs! Today I'm sharing my WHY with you.
Our faucet started leaking like a sieve the other day. When this happened, I all but leapt for joy.
Meggs, seriously? You found joy in a leaky faucet?
Yes, joy! You see, we live in a manufactured home. A trailer. A little box on a hill. We love our little box on a hill. We stay safe and warm in our little box on a hill, and that's good enough for us. My husband and I are practical people. We typically don't spend money on things we don't need. We rarely splurge, and we live on a shoestring budget. So for eight plus years, I made do with the little plastic standard issue mobile home type faucet in the kitchen. I hated that faucet. But it did its job, so I rarely complained. I did, however, silently pray that when the thing finally bit the dust, we would have the means to replace it with one of those fancy-schmancy longneck Price Pfister deals I've seen in magazine ads... and yup, I prayed for a sidespray. Oh, how I longed for a sidespray so that I could rinse out my huge pots and pans without wasting water and making the mess of all messes each time I tried to get one of my huge skillets or stock pots to fit under that little plastic spout. I am so happy to report that July 10, 2010 was my day! I squealed and screeched while Hubby was installing that new faucet. Yes, I was THAT excited.
When I realized how much happiness I'd found in having this thing I had waited so long to have, I rejoiced in the fact that we had the money we needed to purchase the faucet when the need arose. And as I settled in for the evening after all of the work was done, I started thinking of all the simple things that bring me joy each day. The more I thought about it the more I saw that it's really not so hard to find joy when you go looking for it. I went to sleep on July 10th with a smile on my face. I was just happy to be alive. And all the happy introspection which led me to that drowsy grin had stemmed from a leaky faucet.
My WHY is simple:
I want you to know that joy is something real and attainable, even for a survivor of traumatic experiences.
True joy is not defined by the circumstances that surround you. Joy is a spring of hope that wells up inside you even when the world is beating you down. Joy opens your eyes and says, "There is life. Choose to see it!"
See the life today. Instead of focusing on all of the things around you that you cannot control, focus on what you need to do to move through the pain and find joy.
4 comments:
ah yes!
This is really wonderful, Meggs! Congrats on your new faucet, but more importantly on the "JOY" you are experiencing. :-) ♥
I also think that too often joy is thought of to mean "happiness" - but it is not - those are two different things. Happiness is what we attain by allowing ourselves to choose Joy - Joy is the source "to" happiness. I believe that Joy is when we are content with what we have and allow ourselves to see the blessings no matter how much sadness or pain is all around. It is possible to have joy even in the darkest circumstances. Great post Meggs! ♥
Thanks, ladies!
Marijo, I just read an article in a devotional which spoke about that very thing. Knowing that there's a bigger picture and that there's a way it's all gonna work out in the end are what allow us to keep our joy in the middle of feeling defeated. I've felt that, I believe it's possible to be joyful while you're sad. It's no secret that I believe that the JOY of the Lord is my strength. Great point!
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