Choose a Better Life

Many people are great collectors.  They collect everything from stamps to metal lunch boxes to trinkets from travels.  Because I don’t like clutter I’m not a very big collector of things.  I do have a small collection of rubber duckies that have begun circling my bathtub.  The duckies have come mostly from my husband who occasionally finds interesting ones and picks them up for me.

I also have a few shells in my guest room.  They sit on the nightstand in a very large shell that my mom picked up for me several years ago.  The smaller shells that sit inside the large one have been picked up from any number of beaches I’ve visited.

Recently I began thinking about these shells and remembering where they’ve come from.  The ocean is very majestic to me and I can sit and look at it for hours so the shells brought great memories to mind.  But what really intrigued me was remembering how these shells were gathered.

Like most people I usually start with an empty bucket.  I begin picking up shells that look interesting and before long my bucket is full.  But I continue to see shells that are intriguing so I fill my pockets until they are full and I hold as many as possible.  By the time I get back to where I started I am overflowing with shells.

As I was thinking about this, it dawned on me that we really need to be gatherers and collectors of, not things, but joy.

What makes you joyful?  What is it that puts a smile on your face?  These are the things that you need to pursue.  And when you experience one of them, really stop and fully experience it.  Don’t rush through the event onto the next task. Take a minute to stop and enjoy the joy.

My daughter recently wrote on her Facebook page, “I love it when my dog puts her head in my lap and looks up at me.”

It is often the simple things that bring us the most joy.

Some of the things I find joy in are:

• Taking time away from the house to just sit and talk with my husband
• Dreaming about the future
• Dancing in the car with my teenage daughter
• Petting my puppies
• Laughing – anywhere at anything
• Receiving emails from friends
• Re-reading an encouraging note
• Getting together with friends for no reason at all
• Listening to silly songs
• Singing along to my iPod

People tend to take pride in their collections.  They build special shelves for them and display them for everyone to see.  They often revisit their collections to relive memories and share great stories.  We should do the same with joy.

Choose a Better Life ™ by being determined to look for and collect those moments of joy.  Fill your bucket to overflowing – to the point where you have to fill your pockets and hold the excess in your hands.  Then put your joy on display for all to see and experience.