Joy Bites

            Life is beautiful but also can be hard, and harder for some others. Many unexpended, painful events and situations can disturb the serenity and progress of life. Events such as relationship severance or conflict, fatal or terminal illness, suspension and being laid off from a job, getting stuck in life, and death can be devastating and depressing. If the adverse situation happens recurrently or continues for a longer time then it can seem hopeless and dark all the time. It is in such rough and hopeless times that we can remind ourselves of the importance of joy bites. 

           Our whole day may not be awesome and all good yet, there can be little moments and small things that bring us joy. We need to learn to catch every passing moment of joy and choose to engage in activities that bring us solace and happiness. Wajahat Ali suggests that we need to “invest in joy”[1] every day. Choosing to have joy bites every day is a discipline, such as going for a walk daily, that requires dedication and practice. We deserve to have moments of joy, even if they are fleeing, every day that you are alive. And we have to take those moments, grab them, and seize them.[2] If things are not going the way we want does not mean that we need to ignore the little things available to us that can make us happy. No matter how stressed or in pain we are, we can make a choice to have joy bites. 

Joy bites can come from things, people, and experiences that bring us delight and happiness. For some their joy bite might be having a cup of tea, for others talking to a friend, and still for some others spending time in silence and meditation. Every joy bite is important, however small it might be. Repeated practice of joy bites creates for us a soothing, refreshing, and life-saving oasis in the dry and scorching desert of life. We can build an oasis of joy for ourselves, if not an ocean, and know that it is priceless to have an oasis in a desert. 

           So, what is your joy bite?

 

Notes

[1] Wajahat Ali, 3 Lessons on Hope in Changing Times

[2] Wajahat Ali, 3 Lessons on Hope in Changing Times

 

John Baptist OFM Cap. | Clinical Counselor & Psychospiritual Resource Person | York, PA, USA