Enjoy Your Life!

My husband called me from work yesterday and read the quote below to me over the phone. He had received an e-mail from a co-worker in another state, and this was below his signature, I suppose it is his favorite saying. The words touched me so that I asked hubby to forward the e-mail to me. These words pretty much say it all:

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Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,

so love the people who treat you right,

{pray for and then . . . } forget about the ones who don’t,

and believe that everything happens for a reason.

If you get a chance, take it.

If it changes your life, let it.

Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

'Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.

Speak kindly. And enjoy your life.'

{Note, I added the 'pray for and then . . .' before 'forget those who don't', because I believe we should pray for them.}

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Enjoy your life. How can you enjoy your life if you aren't forgiving and hold onto hurt and anger and grudges for far too long. How can you enjoy your life if you never take a chance, never allow change to happen in you, and never try anything new.

Some people never let go of a grudge. My mother is one of those. She is still angry with a friend over something the friend did more than 40 years ago. What she did was wrong, but I'm sure she's forgotten all about it. Holding onto this isn't hurting the friend, it's only hurting my mother, but I can't make her understand that. She is stealing her own joy - and how sad is that!

I am not a grudge holder, it's just not who I am. When something keeps swirling in my head that bothers me - things like hurt, anger or regrets - I lift up a prayer and ask God to take that away from me, and replace it with peace. And do you know what??? He does! Our Father doesn't like to see us hurting or stewing over something like hurt feelings, and all we have to do is ask sincerely and He will take it from us and cast it away where it belongs - into the sea of forgetfulness. God wants us to live a joyful life, and even with trials, there are still so many things that can show us glimpses of JOY.

Today I am finding JOY in the little things. Things like the chilly rain that is making the birds work like beavers at my feeders. I've had two Downy Woodpeckers and a Carolina Wren fighting over one suet cake - so much fun! Things like finishing up my simple decorations, and maybe making a batch of ginger cookies later today. I'm also finding JOY in remembering why we celebrate this season.

So, where are you finding your JOY today??? Blessings, Becky