Joy

No actual balcony, no actual sea but there still needs to be time in my day to reflect. At home it is harder not to be distracted by things that need to be done. At any given moment there are a whole list of possibilities to do.

As I started to reflect on the past week it just seemed a blur, a week that had all rolled in to a frenetic attempt to get through each day. It was actually hard to distinguish the days.

In the midst of the pace I had lost the idea of joy, of blessings given day by day. I was reading one day this past week about how it is more natural to be fearful and to worry than to be joyful. I had found myself slipping in to this fear and worry in the busyness of my week, not because there was any big thing to be fearful about or to worry about, but because I hadn’t taken the opportunity to find joy.

I think for a lot of my life I have expected joy to find me, now I realize it is up to me to look for the glimmer, the splash, the sheer beauty of joy in each day. It’s always there, I don’t always look.

As I reflect about the week I am looking for the joy in each day that perhaps I missed at the time!

Last Sunday as I left the sparkling water and lush green hills of the Central Coast there was joy in just the looking around me. A moment of stopping and looking gave joy for the rest of the day, made me reflect on a God who could be so creative as to have a still beautiful bay on one side of the hill and a wild sea on the other.

On Monday there was the joy of reading to students who were really enjoying the book, who had got involved in the life of the main character and wanted to know what happened next.

On Tuesday there was the joy of caring people taking time to listen and understand.

On Wednesday there was the joy of spending time with a friend, not even having to talk all the time – being secure in our friendship.

On Thursday there was the joy of having time to read in bed, get up a little later before the teaching day started. Then the part of the week that is always so special and brings joy just anticipating it – spending time with family and playing with my grandsons.

Friday, the joy of spending time with colleagues after work and being energized for the weekend.

Finding joy in every day wasn’t too hard! Imagine all the points of joy I missed because I didn’t look. Every day there are gifts we need to look for and take hold of. Everyday there is joy.

reflecting on the balconey

It’s not hard to write sitting on a balcony looking out at Hardy Bay. Even the rain falling persistently doesn’t detract from the morning. There is a gentleness, a peace, a rest, a joy in being able to begin a day just like this – sipping tea on the balcony looking at the water.

I was involved in a Leadership Intensive last year and one of the things we talked about was having balcony moments. It didn’t mean actual, real balconies, of course (although I feel that real balcony moments are just as important!) What they meant was to take time to step back from our life and get a clearer look at it from a different perspective. To be able to withdraw and have time to think and reflect.

As I sit here this morning letting my mind wander, the past week takes on a different perspective. It has been easy to see the blessings! My mind replayed Period 6 with Year 7/8 Explorers yesterday afternoon. It was very chaotic and everyone was doing something different and my head was spinning from trying to answer a multitude of different questions at the same time – is girragundji a frog in the aboriginal language; what’s a simile; can I draw the map on coloured paper; can we make up a drama instead of a dance? Yes, it was chaotic. But as I reflect it brings a smile to my face – a room full of students all busily enjoying working (yes, English IS fun!). What I remember most is the smile on one students face as I explained what a simile was and he got it.

Why write all this? The balcony moment this morning is bringing into perspective all the little moments from the week, and instead of feeling exhausted from the week I can see a purpose, a reason for what I do.

I can’t travel to the Central Coast every weekend. There won’t be a real balcony or a real bay every Saturday. However, right here and now I am deciding that every Saturday morning from now on will be a time to stop and reflect on the week past in a different way. Saturday mornings will be a time to look for those Ah Ha! Moments.