Dear Reader:

I started thinking the other day if  Anne Herbert started a whole movement called “random acts of kindness” to counteract the random acts of violence and hatred that seemed to dominate the news, then why shouldn’t we make a conscious effort to make joy dates for ourselves to counteract worry days?

February is going to be an easy month for joy days….day adventures, lunch with friends, mid-winter Ya retreat at Pawleys and my two “sister” cousins coming to visit. Actually, however, we don’t have to wait until some planned “joy” appears on our calendars….the spontaneous daily moments of joy can appear at any time.

For instance, yesterday turned out to be so nice…sunny and comparatively warm. So much so, that I got my latest mystery book and plopped down in the sun on the deck. It felt SO good….I could feel myself purring. I didn’t get much read…but just lying in the sun and feeling the warmth on my face was pure joy! A date with myself that boosted my spirits with all the good Vitamin-D surging through me.

Kate Wolfe-Jenson says this about the continual battle between joy and worry….

Joy is waiting for you. She stands there, shyly, shifting from foot to foot, ready to grab you by the hand and run out to play. You, so full of things to do, so weighed down with responsibilities and weariness, often plod right by without seeing her.

Stop.

Let go of all you carry. Let joy take you by the hand. Feel her energy tingle up your fingers, across your shoulders and into your heart. Close your eyes for a moment. Breathe. Relax.

Now open your eyes and take in the world with its astonishingly beautiful colors. Notice the way your head balances regally at the top of your spine. Hear the hums and beeps and swooshes of modern life around you. Here you are, relaxed, alert, and waiting for what life and joy may bring you.

There may be monster-voices, at this point, that grumble about your aches and pains. They may moan that you haven’t been getting sleep, that your finances are a mess and that the world is in uproar. Don’t bother to argue. They are scared and hurt, those voices. They puff themselves out large so you will notice. Sometimes they drop so many tangled balls of trouble in your lap, you think you won’t be able to move. Steady on, dear one.

Joy is waiting.

……………………

I have decided that every time I feel a worry monster creeping into my psyche…I am going to pick up my Mary Englebreit (Enjoy the Joy Calendar)   and plan a joyful moment or event for myself and/or others. The idea of being joyful really irritates those worry monsters…so let’s do it!

I am keeping my JOY calendar in my Boo Boo pail in the corner of my bedroom…so every time I start worrying about the “Boo Boo” mistakes I have made or might make….the calendar comes out and I spend my time planning joy instead of worrying needlessly.

So until tomorrow….”For the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh 8: 10)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Look at these two pictures….OMG! Jakie is a clone, a “mini-me” of John….unbelievable, adorable but unbelievable. The acorn just doesn’t fall far from the tree…it is an exact replica…it is the “mini-tree.”