(Five Things That Can Steal Your Joy)
A friend once remarked in the later years of life: Nothing is going to take away my joy.
Her’s was a happy childhood. A good neighborhood friend, A favorite tree to climb. Loving parents and family. A supportive church community. A quality education. A love for music.
She was born with a smile and a pleasant disposition. You are hard pressed to find any photograph of her throughout all of her years without that natural smile, born of joy.
But she was not spared the darker moments of life that are visited upon us. Serious health issues among children and a husband with the loss of her partner in her sixties.
She created a life of being a supportive mom and grandmother and was never too busy to lend an ear or bake something for a neighbor or one of the many people in her compassionate world that is ever-expanding like ripples from a stone tossed into a quiet pond.
What became important to her as the years passed by was to find her joy and hold onto it. And, because none of us are exempt from the forces that threaten our joy, we must declare, frequently: Nothing is going to take away my joy.
Most thoughtful people spend their lives trying to figure out how to best live…
