{"id":1002,"date":"2021-05-11T18:50:34","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T22:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2021-07-17T14:59:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-17T18:59:46","slug":"just-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/?p=1002","title":{"rendered":"Just Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"kc-elm kc-css-419278 kc_row\"><div class=\"kc-row-container  kc-container\"><div class=\"kc-wrap-columns\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-429609 kc_column kc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-223445 kc_text_block\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><strong>By Deborah Blackwell<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">I\u2019m recycling an old mantra for the new year, one I made up a while back.\u00a0<b>Just joy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">They say repeating a fun or meaningful phrase over and over will not only help us feel better, but may actually become our reality. So why not? Life has not been the easiest lately, for anyone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>While we can\u2019t really control the world around us\u2014even though we want to\u2014thinking something that feels good (even if it doesn\u2019t at first) might make all the difference. <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">What have we got to lose?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Just joy<\/b> comes in really handy for what I like to call \u201csituations of the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Like when your cat pukes on the carpet and you step in it on your way out the door, your to-go coffee lid pops off and spills all over you and the driver\u2019s seat, and you miss your train to work by a millisecond. Take a deep breath and say it. <b>Just joy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>But what is joy anyway? Do we define it by achieving a desired outcome? Or is joy the path itself?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">When things go our way, joy bursts through us at light speed. But executing it can be tricky.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Like when you\u2019re just sitting down to open presents on Christmas Day with your family, and your ex-husband and his wife show up unannounced\u2026and stay for brunch. Surprise! <b>Just joy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Life happens in all of its glory and grit. Those little or not-so-little things that make life seem difficult, annoying, or even occasionally unbearable, can pile up. So is joy a feeling? Or an attitude?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It\u2019s been a whopping three degrees for a week now, with no end in sight. Climate change or cruel joke from the weather gods, doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s absolutely painful to go outside. <b>Just joy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Shouldn\u2019t that win out and erase the other junk?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Like when you have a fire in the fireplace, are ready to watch a movie, and despite the high-speed internet you pay for, your television can\u2019t keep up. Click, lag, ugh. So you give up and watch whatever\u2019s on network TV. <b>Just joy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Then you wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety because you feel like America has become a corporate dictatorship run by the cable company, and you know you are whining about First World problems but in that moment it\u2019s all relative. No guilt! <b>Just joy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Some of us have the ability to look at the bright side no matter what, and others of us need a reminder. <b>Just joy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">When the toilet is clogged, your grey roots sprouted too soon, you\u2019re out of milk, and your kids ignore you because they\u2019re on a video game\u2026doesn\u2019t even matter! No need to invest in stress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Because when life seems unsolvable, it\u2019s actually really not.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Say it with me, say it loud, and say it often. <b>Just joy.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[48,45,31,43],"class_list":["post-1002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-choice","tag-journey","tag-joy","tag-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1002"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1553,"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions\/1553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}