Joy in the Grind

Sometimes life can be really challenging, or painful.
You can feel stuck, and yet, you still grind away.
You tell yourself, there is no ’joy’ here.

But what if you were wrong about that?
What if ‘joy’ and ‘grind’ were roommates. Grind does all the talking while joy listens.

Holding my baby in my arms after an exhausting 14-hour labour.
I remember thinking how ‘beautiful’ she was and how I was overcome with great joy.

How is that possible?

It’s as though, joy comes after a physical or mental struggle.

Have you noticed how your fridge has a constant, quiet hum when switched on?
No matter how many kids swing on its doors, or teens fight over the
chocolate milk, the fridge keeps humming. Dad asks Mum why there is no
mayo, and Mum tells him he could do without it. She’s too busy re-stocking it,
tossing out old foods, and wiping up any spillages, just to do it all over again the
following week.

Does your fridge sound a bit like your life at times? Noisy, busy,
unplanned, draining, grateful, ungrateful, frustrating, excited, messy, monotonous?
But the fridge just hums along quietly, despite all the drama out front.

Joy is something you don’t need to wait for, because like the fridge it’s already,
turned on. Joy is yours to have because it starts with your thinking.

It isn’t living in your yesterdays or your tomorrows.
Because joy is present.

Grind will say, “I can’t wait for the weekend”.
But joy will say, “We’re good just where we are.”
Joy doesn’t dwell in sensationalism but finds interest in the small and mundane.

Joy is a worthy roommate.

With gratitude
Gaylene x.