Greeting: Choose Joy
A global pandemic. Wildfires. Political and social turmoil. There are so many heartbreaking reasons to feel down, stressed, angry, and scared.
I (Alice) was feeling that way the other day and decided, as I often do when feeling low, to take myself on a walk. Fresh air, sunshine, and a change of scenery help. Midway though my walk, I came upon a home with sparkling blue balloons waving from the mailbox: “Congratulations,” “It’s a BOY!”.
My heart lifted in thinking about this new life. Soon this baby would smile, then laugh. He’d scoot, crawl, walk – explore.
There’s struggle and strife all around us and within us. But, there’s also joy. Always joy. I think it’s the childlike wonder in me, the wonder that leads me to write my books, that also helps me to find joy. When I lose touch with that, as I sometimes do, I know I can look around and that joy will be there if I choose to see it. And it will lift my heart.
We can all make that choice. Where do we choose to focus? Whether it be in the form of seeing signs of renewal like a new baby, noticing and feeling grateful for little things like a ray of sunshine, and being open to happy surprises around the bend, like a field of sunflowers….Let’s choose joy.
Warmly,
Alice B. McGinty and Alan B. Havis
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