Ron and I spoke for a couples conference last weekend in Jersey City, right next door to where my Deloitte office was for six years, overlooking downtown Manhattan.
I shared a point with the crowd that was a reminder of a nugget that set me free years ago when I first woke up to it. It is simply this…
JOY IS NOW
Not later when I’m married. Not in the future when I’m paid more and work less. It won’t be when the boys are raised or I finally get pregnant. It also won’t be when my boss finally sees me. No, joy is NOW.
The subtle yet ever-pervasive thought of being more joyful later when such and such happens is a constant enemy of contentment and happiness. It seems to plague us all, in some seasons more than others. Really though, I promise you, joy is now.
Our job is to pause and recognize it, call it out from the monotonous and mundane.
Gratitude uncovers it. Smiling extends it. Encouraging someone else multiplies it.
I was reminded of this afresh as Ron and I walked after the couples conference, by my old office, then took the ferry I used to take daily on my commute. Those were years that felt long on work and short on pleasures, but now a part of me wishes I could return to those moments for just a day.
Memories of routine workdays include a fondness now, grateful for lessons learned, projects I now miss and people I treasure but never see.
Yes joy is now, and later too, not because life is perfect or without tears, but because joy is like a good medicine that permeates darkness with promise that this too shall pass, and this too is precious.
Will you join me? Let’s drink it in, the here and now, through the transformational lens of joy.