Finding Joy..........

What is joy? The dictionary defines it as: 1. Intense or elated happiness. 2. A source of great pleasure.

How many of us experience intense or elated happiness or something that causes a great source of pleasure on a daily basis.......I bet not many do. We are so wrapped up in the every day things that life brings that we simply push aside any notion of finding JOY in every day happenings.

Several years ago I started having anxiety attacks, but I didn't know what they were at the time. I thought I was about to die! Then those attacks became full blown panic attacks.......that was scary to say the least! The Doctors didn't help........just said, "here's some pills, take them and come back in a few weeks and let us know how you feel." I took those pills for two days, had the worst panic attack ever, stopped taking those pills and hid out in my house for months. Did some research on the Internet and finally, finally found something that hit home with me. I was a wife, mother, friend, lover, keeper of all, doer of all, said yes to everything...........that was my problem. I had completely overextended myself........trying to do everything for everyone all of the time and I had completely lost myself along the way. Over the last several years I have learned the word, NO. The word YES had way to much power over me.........now I can say NO and not feel guilty. I have found time for myself, to take care of myself, to nurture myself and in the process, I have learned so much about who I am. I am still a wife, mother, friend and volunteer..........but now I feel a sense of balance in my life that I have never had before. I have learned to take time for myself and do things that I enjoy. The anxiety attacks are very few and far between these days..............which is a JOY. I don't worry about them anymore since I know what they are. If one arises, I know that I have lost touch with my inner-balance and I need to stop and take the time to find the JOY in my life.

I try very hard to find JOY in each and every day. Even on the challenging days, I believe you can find some form of JOY.

I find JOY in my family, my children, my husband, cooking, reading, 4-H activities, photography, the chickens, my cats, the dog, camping, fishing, watching the world go by, my wine..........yes, my wine...........I would have to say that a good glass of wine can be a great source of pleasure. So take some time today, tomorrow, the next and every day there after to find a little JOY in your life.........even the simple things can bring JOY.

The above photo was taken by Countrychick in the spring of 2007. It is simply titled: Peace, Clarity & Serenity...............talk about finding Joy.