Your Cup of Joy

Your Cup of Joy

Think of your favourite container for holding fluid to drink. It could be a tea cup, a mug, a glass or your favourite water bottle or insulated travel mug. Whatever that container is, when you choose to put something in it that starts your day off right it becomes a cup of joy. I add herbal tea to my water and that starts my day off right.

This week, consider creating a different type of Cup of Joy. For this Cup of Joy you need to gather a cup that has personal meaning to you, but that you don’t use very often. My favourite cup in this category is a teacup I bought at a yard sale years ago because it reminded me of the dishes my grandmother had when I was growing up. Once you have your cup, and a saucer or plate for beneath it, place it where you will pass by it often.

Treasure Hunting

Now it’s time for a treasure hunt. Search your home for small items that bring you joy – mine includes a small rock, glass gems, marbles, beach glass, a small bit of soft yarn, dried flower petals, shells, a small wooden shoe and some paper stars I made years ago. As you find each item, place it in the saucer at the base of your cup. Each time you pass by your Cup of Joy consider if you are experiencing joy; if you are, move an item from the saucer to the cup. Aim to fill your cup by the end of the week.

Strategies for Filling Your Cup

If you are finding your cup is not being filled it is time to look back at your Inventory of Joy and start doing those activities again. If you are not experiencing joy each day you need to do something to bring joy into your life, to help you appreciate all of your blessings: wear a favourite sweater, sit in the shade of a large tree, make a meal that reminds you of your home growing up, help a neighbour, provide dinner to someone who is homeless.  

Hard Times

There are times in our lives when joy may be hard to experience. I lost both my mother-in-law and mother in less than six weeks this past winter. I did not have difficulty experiencing joy when I was with them, even though I knew each of them was close to passing. When we are with family members near the end of their time on this side of the veil, we can experience some of our most treasured moments with them. As my mom neared her passing I was blessed to be able to cream her body for her to relieve the itching that overwhelmed her, it was a sacred experience and it brought me joy. We also shared many of her favourite meals and reminisced about the past.

Once both my mother-in-law and my mother passed, it was more difficult to feel joy, but I did. My mother-in-law suffered from Alzheimer’s and the end of that disease is so bad that death comes as a relief from their suffering. My mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 28. In later years my mom became diabetic and in the last ten years she had only one kidney that worked at all and it functioned at less than 50%. My mom was 73 when she passed. She was a great mother and grandmother, made a positive difference in the lives of Canadians with disabilities and won many awards, including the Order of Ontario, for her volunteer work. She had many friends and lived a great life. I know that both my mother-in-law and my mother are in a better place, and my mother is dancing again. How could I not feel joy when I know this, when I trust in the Lord and His promises? Yes I am sad for those of us left on this side of the veil, but I also know that someday I will be with her again so I am not that sad, I just miss her. My long distance calls are a little bit further now.

Joy is not happiness, it is a deeper, internal peace that comes with faith. It does not mean that everything in your life is going your way, it just means that you trust in the process, you have faith that every experience will be for your good; that you know your Heavenly Father is watching over you, loves you and is with you as you go through all those tough times in your life as well as all your good times.

And our joy will be as exquisite as was our sorrow. This I know.

May your Cup of Joy runneth over.

Velvet