JOY.
Original Post Date - 4/26/18
It’s was a busy year to say the least. We made a major move last April to a new house (187 years new), Fitzgerald Travel built a new office, Collins and I re-branded our business, I had surgery, we started renovating and our 6th grandchild entered the world, all within 365 days. Even today as I sit in reflection, I have no idea where the time has disappeared. Precious, precious time.
Life. It gets busy no matter what stage of it we are in. I hear the voices in my head repeat the messages, “when I get time’, “when I slow down” and “as soon as I am caught up”. As days and months progressed over the past year, the echo got louder and louder and those messages played over and over until it became my new normal. So subtle was the change, that I didn’t even notice it until early December on a Viking Ship surrounded by 6 of the greatest people I will ever know.
A high school friend, my business partner and client walk onto a Viking Ship. Together, exchanging pleasantries. We were all obviously excited to be on the water. By our second day together, it was as if we had been friends our entire lives. We were eight like-minded people wanting to see and share the same experiences on a river cruise.
The eight of us created our own space in the lounge as if it was our own living rooms. We looked forward to meeting in ‘our spot’ after dinner every night. In some ways it became the highlight of our daily activities. We’d gather, we’d order our ‘regular’ and tell stories.
The conversation was never ending, the stories (& tall tales the boys told that got taller every night) grew, and the deep belly laughter had us rolling until our stomachs literally hurt. Before any of us realized it, the sun was practically on the horizon and this was nearly every night for 7 nights.
During one of these nights, I suddenly became extremely aware of my surroundings. It was almost like an out of body experience, a strange euphoria that surrounded me. Joy came rushing back into my life. I let go of this heavy coat of anxiety I had been wearing for three years (that is an entirely different story for someday). I listened to all of them, I heard every word so clearly, I noticed every smile. I was present, I was physically and mentally present for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
In this wildly bazaar moment that felt like forever (reality is it was just a few minutes), I realized that I am no different than anyone else in this world. We all have ‘stuff’ but when we let that stuff steal our joy without permission, we are left with only the “have to”, “when I get time” and “once I get caught up”.
When your joy is stolen, you lose what is important. Love, Life and being present in the moment. I was for the first time at this place of euphoria and this peace and calm surrounded me. It was pure joy. A simple three letter word that means so much. I was at that moment simply happy. I embraced joy and I have been carrying her with me every moment since. All because of a childhood friend, my business partner and a client walked onto a ship.