Don’t Postpone Joy – Especially Now

“Ever spent months, even years, of your life as if they were just a phase you were going through, an extended transition, until the time when your real life would begin?  Here are two simple rules:  Rule #1.  BEGIN AT ONCE TO LIVE.  Rule #2.  DON’T POSTPONE JOY.”
Landon Saunders, author – Life That Loves to Happen … no matter what happens

Especially in the past, when I was going through a tough, traumatic, terrible time (ie – my divorce!), I wasted so much time, so much life.  I kept thinking, “If I just get through this; if I just find someone else; if I make more money, If this or if that happens, then I’ll be happy.  I’ll start enjoying life.”

My only advice, learned from doing a lot of postponing at different times in my life, is that I’ve become better at enjoying life now.  This very minute!   Because I learned this very minute is the only one I have any control over.

As you read this blog, stop a minute and just be aware of the blessings all around you.  You can see.  You can feel.  You can appreciate a hot cup of peppermint tea or mocha coffee.  You have enough to eat.  Your children are not starving or dying in some relocation camp with no clean water.  You have your good mind, your energy, your imagination, your sense of humor  (get it out and dust it off!)

Plus you have the ability to choose joy … now.  And the most important thing of all is that you have God and his protection, his promises, his peace, his power …. his Spirit every single moment of every day and night.

Let’s all try to see the big picture every day for the rest of this year and find the goodness in it.  I am not making light of your struggle.  But don’t forget that within this very hour, this very day you have blessings all over the place.  You have an opportunity to start living fully now and to find  joy no matter what is happening.

Stop a minute and find some right now!  You can make your own joy, you know, in so many ways … be kind, help someone else, smile, be optimistic and hopeful …. shine your light. Sharing those gifts brings joy back to you …. and every little bit adds up.

Do it now … yes, even in the middle of this divorce … and all season long.

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”  Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

P.S.  Check out our Holiday Edition of the Divorce Survival Kit …. There are JOY tips galore for you and for those you love. Give yourself the gift of joy …. you deserve it and those you love will be glad to feel your joy, too.  If you haven’t already, go to www.midlifedivorcerecovery.com and click on the banner or the Divorce Survival Kit Button.