10 ways to find your joy
- Find joyful books, How about, Marley and Me?
- Find joyful people.
- Celebrate what you have, even the little things.
- Be creative.
- Help another.
- Organize a drawer.
- Take a load to Salvation Army.
- Stay away from the news.
- Forgive past grievances.
- Think of something that you can smile about.
MY JOY STORY
A few weeks ago I visited a dear relative and his wife. Both of whom are going through a major obstacle. He is suffering from ALS. (Lou Garrick Disease)
Because the affliction can hit any part of your body at any time, it is not unusual for the bowel and bladder to be effected first. For Allen his first hint was extreme exhaustion.
Here is the definition of ALS;
http://www.livescience.com/39583-als-lou-gehrigs-disease.html
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or motor neuron disease, is a progressive neurological disease that causes the neurons that control voluntary muscles (motor neurons) to degenerate, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In the United States, as many as 20,000 to 30,000 people have the disease, and about 5,000 people are diagnosed with it each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A monthly activity they participate in is a picnic for families who are dealing with the various ramifications of this disease. We all know that there is safety in numbers. There is acceptance and comfort that leads to an inner joy. For Allen and Sophie this time together with other families offers a kind of normalcy to their situation, an opportunity to ask questions, and most important a community that knows exactly what they are going through.
I see this blog similar to the picnic mentioned above. It is a place where we can be real and share our concerns with overactive and underactive bladder and bowel. Our plight is not common in conversation at the dinner table, similar to what Allen and Sophie deal with. For them, a discussion about dying a slow death is not a topic most want to have, so to be with others in a similar situation helps to feel normal.
Are people dealing with difficult situations supposed to be glum all of the time? Absolutely not! We have but one life, so it is important that we find the joy in our situation and move forward.
Today Allen and family members are planning a trip to a gun range. The men plan to hold Allan’s gun up as he aims for that target, but mostly I suspect they will have a day of men talk or perhaps men non-talk. Regardless they will be together and enjoy each other.
No matter what life throws at you it is possible to find JOY
Let me encourage you to be joyful in spite of hard circumstances. The alternative will bring you down and ruin your day. Can you give a friend a call? Can you create a beautiful picture? What can you do to find your joy?