Joy creates motivation...............................

If you are a "normal" Joe/Jane, there has been at least one occasion in which you just simply could not find the motivation to begin, or finish a task. How then, do we get things done? My simplistic answer is to find the joy!

How do I get out of bed after two hours of sleep rather than hit the snooze button one more time? I con myself into believing that I have an easy day ahead of me, or that I will be able to fit in a nap later in the day. Rarely does either thing materialize, but in the moment I think of how wonderful those things are and it gets me moving.

I am sure most of us would have to stretch to find "the joy" in cleaning a toilet or cleaning up after a pets. Laugh if you want, but I "feel" different/better peeing into a clean toilet rather than a dirty one. (Did anyone think Porta-potty?) It is in the outcome that I find the joy.

Last February, I started knitting (my) Mister a sweater. I made a mistake, and after ripping it out and making the same mistake three times, I put it away to take a break from it. Since that time, I have been too busy to have the uninterupted time needed to fix the dumb thing. The joy of knitting (and the fact that I have much more disposable time on my hands now) brought the sweater back out of the bag, and I am pleased to say I not only fixed the mistake (FINALLY!) but will have the back completed today and be moving onto the left front. I had forgotten how much I enjoy knitting. It is the joy of the process that has re-motivated me to finish the sweater.

I believe if we choose to search long and/or hard enough, we can find joy in everything. Once we find the joy, we can tackle and accomplish anything. This is along the same lines as stopping to smell the roses. Everything in life is there as a gift for us, if we are willing to take it. Our days are filled with life lessons that will make us better able to love one another. Again, we have to be willing to take these gifts; even when they are disguised in "un-gift-like" forms. The joy is in the choice people, and even when our egos work hard to fool us into thinking there is no choice, there ALWAYS, ALWAYS is! As your work day begins, and you find your self grumbling because a co-worker took the last of the coffee and didn't make fresh, used the last of the paper in the copy machine and didn't fill it back up, spread their clutter all over shared work space, step back and find the joy in these nuisances. It really is there, waiting to be discovered. I promise!