Hop, Skip and Jump for Joy

JOY IS PRAYER----JOY IS STRENGTH-----JOY IS LOVE--- JOY IS A NET OF LOVE BY WHICH YOU CAN CATCH SOULS. SHE GIVES MOST WHO GIVES WITH JOY! ~ Mother Teresa

As I sat down thinking about what to write, it hit me - JOY! What if I write about JOY - pure, true, unadulterated JOY! When I think of spring I think of JOY.

Now that I live in Southern California, it is not just the weather that makes me jump for joy this time of year, because honestly it is pretty darn nice here all year round! But I think that springtime reminds me of life, love, rebirth and just being revived and refreshed. It is a time of year for JOY!

JOY is about breathing in deep the smells of the flowers blooming, watching the sunset, hearing the waves crash and feeling the earth beneath our feet as we walk along the beach or across a park. Joy is about smiling at a stranger, laughing out loud at ourselves and skipping down the side walk. Joy is girls hopscotching in the park or double dutching on the street, youth running through fire hydrants on a hot day, or grown adults splashing barefoot in the rain. Joy is falling in love, getting a crush, giggling with delight. What does JOY feel like for you?

Right now, we are being inundated with fear every which way we turn - from the financial crisis to the housing crash to the swine flu. So what if right now, instead of being dragged into these messages of fear, we could all just shake it off and shift into a place of JOY and see what happens? What would you go out and do today to shake off any of that negative energy and shift into JOY?

What if we could translate that more than just one day but for several days and as many days as possible? Try it on for size and see how much your life and that of those around you fills up with JOY by you taking the initiative and making that first step! Enjoy and live with JOY!