Reflections: Finding Joy

“Joy Comes To Us In Moments—Ordinary Moments. We Risk Missing Out On Joy When We Get Too Busy Chasing Down The Extraordinary.” -BrenÉ Brown

Not too long ago, I left a beautiful community of friends and family in Tacoma and Colorado, a good job at Puget Sound, and finished teaching ballet classes. I traded my busy life, a life I liked, for the one I have in Nica that consists of no community at the moment, no job, no students to advise or teach, no colleagues to talk to throughout the week, and no friends or family to physically meet up with. Instead, I take care of Lucie (which I do not begrudge in the least) and mind our very quiet home. Life has slowed down significantly.

Shouldn’t I be planning my career/life goals? Why haven’t I found a NGO that I can volunteer at with a baby this week? Should I start planning the next OSU alumni club chapter with my time in Managua? Can I start my own NGO? Where and when is the next mom’s group to meet up with? What am I actually doing with my day or rather, what more can I be doing with my day?

Identity crisis, sort of. It’s all part of change and finding new meaning in this season. These past couple weeks have shown how addicted I am to having a filled schedule, how much pleasure I take in checking off a list, and how I am inclined to think about the next lofty career/life goal(s) rather than appreciating the ordinary moments that are around me. Therein lies my new daily challenge, the Brené Brown inspired challenge:

“Joy comes to us in moments—ordinary moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.” -Brené Brown

This quote comes from the book Daring Greatly, an awesome read that I encourage anyone to look into. It has inspired me to take a step back from trying to busily chase and might I add, control, the extraordinary, to slowing it down and finding JOY in the ORDINARY.

So here some ordinary things this week that I treasured as joy, that I most likely would have missed in a former busy life:

1. Rocking Chairs: handmade Nica rocking chairs are amazingly comfortable, not to mention their exquisite craftsmanship. The back and forth motion is lulling and Lucie and I frequently nap and cuddle together. Yes, I get to nap everyday!
2. Cold Showers: no hot water here, but would you believe with the humidity and heat how refreshing it is to take a cold shower everyday?
3. Coffee: the hubby makes fresh Nicaraguan coffee each morning. Not only does it taste rich and perfect, but I appreciate his simple gesture of love to start my day off right.
4. Smiles: I cannot not help but treasure the gummy smiles Lucie makes throughout the week and the two teeth that are coming in on the bottom are adorable. In addition I love the smiles given throughout the week from friends and family on FaceTime.
5. Stillness: I appreciate hearing the world around me. The birds here literally sing beautiful melodies all day long and not annoying squawks like the crows in Tacoma. Ecclesiastes 5:2, 1 Kings 19: 11-13
6. Other Things: 20min. of daily yoga, pitaya deliciousness, Chiky Cookies, and learning Spanish through Doki

Thought for the week: What is ordinary in your life that brings you joy? Appreciate and meditate on that this week. 

21 Oct This entry was written by Danielle Manning and published on October 21, 2015 at 6:54 pm. It’s filed under Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.