This One Change Can Unlock More Joy In Your Life
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Photo by steven aguilar on unsplash
Are you longing for more joy or fulfillment in your life?
A couple of years ago when I was going through a challenging season, I said something to my husband along the lines of, “I’m tired of feeling sad.” To which he replied, “Why don’t you try adding more things into your day that bring you joy?”
And it got me thinking…
What if one reason we don’t feel more joy in our everyday lives is simply because we don’t make time for the things that bring us joy?
What originally seemed like a novel idea now seems obvious—of course doing more things that bring me joy will increase my joy. But if boosting our joy could be as simple as doing things that bring us joy, why is it that so many of us struggle to do those things more often?
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY
I think it’s because we have this notion that “fun” is for kids and that we adults have more important “grown-up” things to attend to. We have jobs to go to, dishes to wash, bills to pay, household appliances to repair…the list goes on and on.
But God didn’t create us for a life of drudgery.
When we fall for the lie that life is meant to be a tedious grind, we end up missing out on all sorts of good things, just like the older son in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). This man was all work and no play because he thought that was what his father expected. Because of this misconception, he never even bothered to ask for time off to do something fun with his friends.
Eventually, he accused his father of withholding from him, to which his dad basically said, “What are you talking about? Everything I have is yours to enjoy, and you could have been enjoying it all of these years!” (Luke 15: 31-32, my paraphrase).
UNLOCK THE JOY
Let’s not fall into the same trap.
God has given you specific interests, dreams, desires, and abilities. He’s put good gifts all around you—specific things that unlock joy, satisfaction, and/or fulfillment in your heart—and He’s put the keys to these gifts in your hand.
He’s not going to force fulfilling or joyful activities on you. It’s up to you to take action—to turn the key, so to speak—and partake in the things that bring you fulfillment.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. These can be simple things, like savoring a cup of hot apple cider on your front porch in the quiet of an early fall morning…
Or taking a stroll through a park and stopping to stretch next to a pond full of geese…
Or pulling out your paint set and creating a simple watercolor…
Or spending half an hour reading a novel…
Or knitting baby booties…
Or cooking a gourmet meal…
Whatever they are, the things you deeply enjoy are not superfluous or random. They reflect who God created you to be on a deep level, and they can be powerful ways of nourishing your soul, connecting with God (remember, the feeling of joy is an indicator of the Holy Spirit’s presence! See Galatians 5:22), and ministering to others.
A WORTHWHILE EXCHANGE
What brings you a sense of enjoyment or satisfaction? How can you incorporate it into your daily life?
Making time for joyful activities might require removing something else from your schedule (perhaps social media or TV time), but I think you’ll find that the exchange is worth it!
As always, you are in my thoughts and prayers, and I’d love to hear from you! You can contact me here or through the comment section below!
In purpose and faith,
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