Yesterday was the kind of day that lets you pause and let go of any obstacles and focus on gifts and graces. "Count your blessings," would be another way of putting it. Highlights that come to mind are: Starting the day by sharing time with a good friend, closing the day with another and, in between, hearing my faraway, newest granddaughter respond with gleeful baby sounds when I spoke to her on the phone.
For me, these are the moments that give life meaning and as they occur, I invite them in to a special place within me where I can revisit them at will. It has taken many milestones to arrive at this point which gives me cause to wonder how many meaningful moments have gone by unnoticed. I mourn for those lost moments only briefly, though, knowing "right now" is all that is real. Yesterday is what it was and cannot be changed; only learned from. Tomorrow, despite all our careful planning, will never unfold exactly as anything we might expect. Therefore, to worry or to focus on what could/should/would happen is a waste of immediate energies, rendering us too preoccupied to find joy in the reality of "right now."
The word "joy" meaning something quite different from "happy," in my mind, although I think the words are sometimes used interchangeably. I think of joy as a feeling deep within my soul while happy, to me, is more of a surface pleasure; neither one a varying level of the other but simply quite unrelated.
I wonder what joy today might bring?
I agree - "Joy" as is the case with "Peace" is different then Happiness.
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