‘Tis the season to…find your JOY
Over the weekend I was at a party. Yes, a proper party where strangers become friends by the end of the night in the safety knowing that you have a friend in common, the host. This weekend, these new friends will be joining us to go to see a 90s cover band and to dance. Yes, you heard right, good old fashioned burning up the dance floor. A similar thing happened a couple of months ago at a conference a couple of us from the team attended. Here we were, sitting at the conference dinner - all very formal, eating our entree when our feet started tapping, and, by the end of entree, there was quite a full dance floor and it stayed like that for the entire night.
THIS - IS - JOY
Life stages change, for every body, and, it can, at times, leave us yearning for what used to be or for more than what we have right now. I know that happens to me at times. As I looked around on the dance floor at the conference dinner all of us were dancing to the tune of our own drum, yet all united. United in the JOY of the moment we were sharing.
It’s made me think a lot recently about what else brings me joy. I spend a lot of time at work or thinking about work and while I love my job, it’s not all of who I am. But, as is the case with so many of us today and in particular post pandemic where so many of us threw ourselves into our work - thankful to have jobs, have we forgotten to find other things to light us up?
Thomas Jefferson once declared that without health there can be no happiness. Science now shows the opposite is true, too. Happiness is an important component to maintaining physical health. According to the American Heart Foundation, up to 80% of visits to GPs are due to conditions that are caused or exacerbated by unmanaged stress. Finding joy, and being happier doesn’t just make us feel better, it improves our health, it helps us eat healthier, be more active and sleep better.
As we race to the end of another year, and before we throw ourselves into the stress of wrapping things up at work, and the desperation for the Christmas break, I ask you to think about what brings you joy?
For me, it’s cooking, singing and dancing - the latter two I either have been too scared to do or don’t do enough. So I have joined a choir (I am a terrible singer by the way - but I am going to learn). And, if we bump into each other where there is good music (with or without a dance floor), you'll find me dancing!
