Finding Joy in the Little Things

Happy Friday! In Calgary it’s a rainy Friday- we’ve had some storms rolling in and we’ve gone from some hot spring days (27C or 80 F) to a much cooler, wetter weekend. Instead of lamenting about the weather, I have been thinking about how we can find joy in the little things and learning to build the habit of gratitude even if the weather isn’t great or our situations aren’t optimal.

Finding Joy Takes Effort

It would be nice to say that finding joy is easy and that it comes naturally. Sometimes, it feels like an uphill battle to find peace and joy in life. To choose joy is to make an intentional decision, to look at life from a place of hope instead of focusing on the negative. I believe that it’s something that we need to practice daily. It’s taking the time to step back, look at our world and see the good in it.

Keeping the Negativity Out

I have found that the last little while I’ve had a lot of trouble with gratitude and joy. It’s not because I don’t want joy, but more because I feel that everywhere I turn I’m getting dragged into someone else’s problems. I’m not looking for it- I don’t really want to be involved but often because I do care for others, I get a little too involved in their problems. 

I have been reflecting on this a bit lately.  Where is the point of being a good friend and at what point is it toxic to my spirit? Am I trying to rescue the person from the situation and preventing them from having to deal with the consequences of their actions?

I’m realizing that the more I get dragged into people’s problems and their pet issues the less mental energy I have to stay in a good place. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care for others, but at some point I need to detach myself from the situation and allow them to figure it out for themselves. 

We can’t stay in a good place when we are constantly losing mental bandwidth dealing with negativity and drama. This also prevents us from focusing on the good relationships that mean the most.

Focusing on the Good Relationships

I have actually decided for a few weeks to take a break from people, spend time with my husband and focus on my most important relationship. The problem with being dragged down from negativity is that it can seep into the important relationships. How can I focus on having a great relationship with my spouse when other issues and negativity that isn’t even my own starts seeping in?

I’ve decided to take a bit of a break from putting energy into the more draining relationships and focusing on the important ones. It’s going to be a weekend of visiting the zoo, golfing and finding time together with my spouse to chat and connect. Life is busy, we have to create opportunities to connect and do activities that are restorative to the soul.  

Making Time for Creativity

After a really busy week and not a lot of time for things that I find restorative, I decided to take some time to do something creative. Usually this is art, but I was having a hard time getting into a creative space. So I was looking around my art space for unfinished projects and I found one that’s been unfinished for a long time. 

Last summer, I had purchased a hat that was cute but I feel like it could use a little “something something.” So I found some white artificial flowers and took some paints and inks to them to match them to the color of my hat. This has been sitting for months not completed, so yesterday I took a few minutes to arrange the flowers on the hat and use hot glue to attach them. It probably took less than 20 minutes to complete, but it felt very relaxing to do something creative for even just a few minutes. 

Finishing up small projects like this, even though it doesn’t take long, brings so much joy and relaxation. It’s extremely restorative and it takes so little time to do. It’s focusing on the creative habits that bring us joy. It’s finding joy in the little things, the little projects, but what a difference it can make to our mental health and our sense of peace.