JOY IN THE small things

SMALL THINGS SHOULD BRING US JOY… The little guy and I were in the backyard playing with his new water table and he was exploring each of the functions. Well, there’s this water pump in the middle that takes a bit of force for his little 3-year-old hands to force down. He’d been trying for the past week to push it down and on this day he realized that two of his toddler hands were stronger than one, ha!

So, with two hands he pushed down the pump and I could see the excitement sparkle in his eyes. Not only was he pushing the pump, but he noticed that the water was now streaming down with each pump and turning one of the gadgets. Soon he erupted with all visible signs of toddler-pride to include giggles, jumping up and down and more pump action, “It’s spinning, it’s spinning!”, he rejoiced over and over again as he showed off his new talent of pumping. His excitement about this achievement warmed my heart and taught me a much needed lesson…he was saying to himself and to everyone around, “Hey, I did this! I’m proud of myself, and it brings me joy!”

Wow, I should be this way! We all should! Why is it that we don’t allow ourselves to celebrate the small and simple things? Find joy after cleaning the play room. Find joy in finishing phase one of your work project. Just mowed the lawn? Pat your self on the back! I’m not saying we should throw a party over everything we do, but allow ourselves to find joy as we go along. I’m guilty of only celebrating at the end of big achievements. For example, I’ve been working on my Master’s of Social Work degree for three looong years, and with each semester instead of patting myself on the back for a job well done, I have complained about how long it’s taken (I even just indirectly complained about it in this sentence). We create these grand goals for ourselves and our careers/our families/our education, and get so caught up in the 5 year plan (I hate that question during interviews, yuck!) or whatever our big dreams are, that we don’t realize our daily achievements. We should find reasons to rejoice every single day!

The acknowledgement of small joys is especially important today in the midst of the pandemic. Each time we turn on the news there’s more doom and gloom, COVID-19 tolls raising, and more confusion of what the “right” response from the nation should be. It can lead to anxiety and depression and overall negative thoughts. Life throws us so many wrenches and beats us up throughout the day (or shux, we beat ourselves up), that we absolutely can not wait until some big thing happens to say, “Hey, that thing I did was cool. Go me!” In the world we live in it is almost mandatory to find joy in the small things… and guess what Mommas, YOU DESERVE IT!

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE:

This week, I’d like to challenge us to take a moment at the end of each day to intentionally acknowledge one small thing we’ve achieved. We can do this through incorporating positive self-talk and positive affirmation using the following exercise:

Face the mirror, and speak aloud “Today I accomplished (fill in the blank), and I am proud of myself for this. I am worthy of joy and choose to find joy in the small things.”

APPLICABLE BIBLE VERSES:

Galatians 5:22-23 & Philippians 4:4

By the way, just in case you’ve forgotten, just want to remind you that you’re an amazing Momma! If you’re reading this, leave me a comment with what small thing you did today that you can choose to find joy in. Also, feel free to check out my introduction post (Hey MOMMAS, Hey!) for a quick introduction. Look forward to our next chat and connecting to share REAL LIFE, FROM ONE MOM TO ANOTHER!