A few days ago I wrote about my greatest fear and this afternoon, as I reflected back on the day, I thought I’d discuss life’s greatest joys. I think everyone fears failure, and we all fear death, rejection, and so many other things in life. But joy is more individualized. My greatest joy may be the same as yours or it may be different. For example, one of my boyfriend’s greatest joys in life is scuba diving. He can be having a horrid day and get out there on a good dive and come home relaxed and full of excitement for life again. He simply loves everything about the sport and what he can find and experience underwater. One of my friend’s greatest joys in life is cooking. She loves to talk about cooking, share her dishes with friends, and would prefer to be in the kitchen almost more than anything else. It never seems to become mundane or a chore for her. Like fears, we all have more than one joy in life, but these are examples of the varied nature of our joys.
As for me, I enjoy scuba diving, yoga, reading, and so much more, but my greatest joy is spending quality time with my family and friends. I love being with my boys, seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter. I love having a glass of wine and dinner with my boyfriend’s family while we tell stories. I love getting together with my brothers and their families and my parents and all our relatives from Sand Mountain, eating watermelon and homemade peach ice cream and catching up on life. I love going over to my best friend’s house, crying and giggling and sharing life together until way past our bed times. I love discovering treasures on the beach with my boyfriend and my kids while camping at the beach shack and diving these beautiful tropical waters with old and new friends. These are the times when I feel the most joy, and the one thing that binds these experiences into one is togetherness with family and friends, sharing life’s greatest joys for all of us.
So, maybe I should redefine my greatest joy as sharing other’s greatest joys with them for I usually share my friend’s love of cooking by visiting with her in the kitchen while she cooks and taste testing her food as she prepares it. And I accompany my boyfriend and his friends on dives and glean the most happiness during those dives from seeing the contentedness on his face and the excitement in his voice before and after the dives and swimming beside him under the water so I don’t miss seeing whatever he or I might find to share with each other. I share in my sons’ happiness when roasting marshmallows and finding a particularly cool shell or treasure on the beach. I love to listen to family stories and learn more about these precious parts of myself and my family through opening up my mind and heart to our differing perspectives on life and discovering how our life experiences have shaped us into who we are. Sharing life and love with those closest to me, that’s my greatest joy in life. What’s yours?
No comments:
Post a Comment