Take the Joy Challenge

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude. You know, like being thankful and appreciative. Sometimes I have problems with it – forgetting that my life is full of blessings. Blessings like my husband, my kids, and my house for example. These are all things that daily fill me with delight. And yet, I know I take them all for granted on a continual basis.

Let’s just take my house. I live in a house built in the early sixties. It’s situated in an older neighborhood where many people are doing some serious renovation. As a matter of fact, when I take my walk in the early evening I have noted that there is an ongoing trend to raze houses and build something fresh and new and big! And I have found this new trend has the capacity to alter my once satisfied standard of living. Because quite often, I leave for my walk with a fabulous outlook on my cozy home only to return feeling there are a zillion things I need to do to “freshen” my aging abode. Suddenly, my front door looks worn and tired. The wallpaper in the entry (wallpaper is so passé) is listless and depressing. My entry lighting is so bad that I squint to allow my eyes to adjust, giving me the start of a dull headache. Hmmm. What just happened here?

Apparently, I am suffering from a common American malady. Ingratitude. Discontentment. It’s an infectious little virus in my soul. It sits dormant until it all the conditions are just right … and then the symptoms pop up like chicken pox. Suddenly, I’m just itching to do something about this substandard house I’m living in! Paint. Repair. Renovate. Anything to fix the problem!

But of course the problem isn’t in my house, it’s in my heart. My lack of contentment has more to do with materialism than money or makeovers. And my inability to take a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood without feeling the need to catch up with the Joneses is quite an indictment.

So I’ve issued myself a little challenge. I call it the Joy Challenge and it goes something like this: In everything – give thanks.

As I’m taking an evening walk in my neighborhood – I give thanks for the legs that carry me. If I notice the neighbor’s new renovation – I give thanks for eyes to notice. When I open my “worn” front door – I give thanks for a place to call home.

It’s a matter of perspective and habit. Perhaps we all need a reminder to stop whining about things and start giving thanks. In everything.