Joy on the Path

The sale process for our house is moving forward with glitches and hiccups. Not a straight path, exactly, but a sale process nonetheless. For that, I'm thankful.

We're in the thick of the packing up of our home. Our life is being folded up and sealed in brown boxes, stacked high, safely secured in storage. Right now my head is mostly full of what to put in the next box, what to store for a longer period, what to take with me now, and what will fit in the car.

As to the future, we don't know specifics. We have ideas and scenarios, all carefully researched. But the concrete nuts and bolts are not here with us yet. We will be staying with family in the interim period.

I have realized that the transition itself is a place. It's the place where I live. It's a kind of transient world that has its own characteristics, comforts, advantages, and annoyances. This is definitely adventure, although I can't say it's the type that I prefer. And there is joy on the path. I have to remember to look for it and to savor it.

But that's always true, isn't it? Joy is a choice. We have to look for it and choose to enter into the experience of it. We can shut it out, shun it, or stuff it in a closet along with things we might do some day. One thing I have learned, if we wait for the right time to build a life of joy, it will not happen. A lot of joy is simply accepting what we are being given now and taking the time to let it soak into our souls.

It's something I will be trying to do, even in my challenging situation. I will be encouraging you to do it, too. I know that without joy, most of us will eventually give up on the good things we've set out to do for our families. We weren't designed for a life without joy, and we can only run so far, fight so hard, endure so much without it, until we drop in our tracks like a man who has gone without water for too long.

I hope that I will drink deeply of the joy offered to me each day. I need to notice the beauty around me. It helps me to hug the people I love and remember to enjoy them. I ought to read, each day I can, something that restores my soul. And every once in a while, I should close my eyes and smell the fresh air. This earth, in spite of all of the pain and danger and disappointments, is still a wonderful place. I are blessed to be here and take it all in.