Simple Joy and Pleasure

Now that the unthinkable has happened with the Coronavirus declared a pandemic, we are told to stay home, limit our contact, and other solid advice.  Staying home helps us do our part in containing or at least reducing the spread of the virus.  There is plenty of non-encouragement around, but the change that has caught my attention is Simple Joy and Pleasure.  It is almost like we had to have it forced on us to give it the recognition it deserves in our life.  I mean to stop doing the busy stuff that we do.  We can stop and enjoy simple things in life, like quietness, sitting, and talking with a family member.  The real simple joys of life like our forefathers most likely experienced so much more than us.

I hope you will take the time to journal what you are experiencing and learn from this experience.  What questions do you have now that are more clear than ever before?  Or what revelations are coming to you in a new way? Stop and write them down; make a note of them now while they are fresh.  As we all make concessions in our lives, we experience a space filled with “stuff” before.  An opportunity to meditate, think, reflect and pause our lives.  Take some time to find your personal space and sit and think about what is essential in life.  We believe the critical stuff is what we’re missing right now, but I would like to suggest that what is important is this time to reflect and experience life in a different way.  Our current dilemma is a valuable experience that will change many things in this life forever, both people and life as we know it.

As a faith-based person, I reflect on the toils, troubles, fears, losses, and grief in my life, looking for redemption from the past and the present.  These challenges may wear us down and even defeat us for a while, but they cannot overcome our belief in God.  Scripture teaches us that we need to replace fear with faith.  We cannot understand everything from an earthly perspective; we don’t have the capability.  But we can fight for love, joy, demonstrate dedication to others, hope, and gratefulness for our victories and our challenges. I will continue this thread with a closer examination of how the difficulties in life serve us in the long run.

Meanwhile, I want to encourage you to take some quiet time by yourself to sit and think.  Get a journal and write your thoughts, even without complete sentences.  Maybe make a word list of how you are feeling, questions that you may have, and ideas of encouragement for others.  Take time for the Simple Joy and Pleasure that stopping the world can provide in this instant.

For a closer look at the difference between Joy and Pleasure, please see Difference Between Joy and Pleasure | Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

For another look at Joy, please see Choose Joy – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)

Yours for a Better Life,

Rich Patterson