While Searching for Joy...

A new focus for this year, is to seek joy. I believe it can be found in all the moments of our lives. Joy isn't a mood, it's a state of being.

A little bit ago, the James Galway version of Somewhere Out There began to play. There was a time when any version of this song immediately reduced me to tears. It was a favorite of my mothers. She requested it to be sung by one of her grandchildren at her memorial service, but in the overwhelming planning of it, I forgot until some months later. After she passed, the song would evoke so much sadness I couldn't listen to it without weeping. I didn't see the joy in her choice. It took me a long time to realize it was mom's message of comfort to us, that she would still be "somewhere out there" and loving us just the same, as she always had. There's joy in believing that, in knowing her love crosses all barriers between her former life here and the new life she is now part of.

I'm still learning to look for the joy in every situation. It isn't always easy, but it can be found when we open our hearts and our minds to it.

As always, wishing you Joy!

© 17Jan2016 ajj