I’m turning 40 this month and shared in my recent newsletter many of the ways I’m choosing joy in this season of life, by loving others and loving myself, raising kiddos, leaning into the waves that ebb and flow and just owning my imperfections. Would love to hear anything different on your list.
Celebrate all the things!
Create - seriously, Picasso said it. We are all artists. make art, make cake, make music...
walk in the woods - "it is a great art to saunter." - Thoreau
"walk in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air" -Emerson - healing for the soul, yes?
hope - Psalm 71:14
choose joy...a brave decision
work hard and with purpose, but avoid the hustle
reduce and repurpose - minimize things and maximize adventure, learn to love this beautiful earth and take care of it
travel - down the road and around the world
take naps (hard for me, but so helpful)
step outside your comfort zone sooner than later, and invite a friend to join you - solidarity!
view interruptions in life as opportunity, to extend kindness and grace (always working on this one), meaning, make peace with the [inevitable] waves
pursue truth (2 Corinthians 13:4-6)
visit the library often..." ' I just like to know' said Pooh humbly" -A.A. Milne
try new foods, from different cultures
shop local + eat local + support small businesses
be still - the only way to listen
make room - in your mind, in your heart, in your spaces
clutter = delayed decisions and most of us have decision fatigue, so reflect on which decisions to eliminate
be teachable
stop overthinking it (and find that person who will remind you often to do this)
have the "I get to" mentality vs. "I have to"
pause and ponder
act justly, love mercy, walk humbly -Micah 6:8
be vulnerable - share your story
learn to wait
humility
remember that darkness cannot cover the light (John 1:5)
grace upon grace upon grace - for yourself, your family, your neighbor
apologize - to your spouse, your kids, you parents, your friends
do less better. explore, yes. and then focus.
courage, dear heart - C.S. Lewis
be Mary (present) in a Martha (bustle, bustle, bustle) world (Luke 10:42)
give - time, conversation, listening ear, fill tangible needs
learn to say no - every no = perhaps a better yes?
live freely and lightly (Matthew 11:28-30)
dance in the kitchen
gather around tables - with your family, your neighbors
create buffers for solitude (I mean, I AM an introvert)
presence over perfection, presence over perfection, presence over perfection (really leaning into this one)