A Simple Kinda Life

–noun

1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation: She felt the joy of seeing her son's success.

2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated: Her prose style is a pure joy.

3.the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.

4. a state of happiness or felicity.

–verb (used without object)

5.to feel joy; be glad; rejoice.

–verb (used with object)

6. Obsolete . to gladden.

 Joy. What does it mean to you? I'll tell you what it means to me, because I have many reasons to be joyous, and I'm fully aware of that fact.

I'm joyous for the life that I was given. My birth mother could have chosen to have an abortion when I was in her womb. She didn't. Even though I was adopted, I was still alive.

 

 Mom before she passed away

Being adopted, I've been through good and bad times, and I always make it through to the other side. I've been fortunate to have an adopted family that loves me and raised me to be a good cook, a good mother, and a hard worker. I have also been blessed with finding a birth family that I belong to. I guess you could say I'm double joyous to have TONS of people who love and care about me!

I'm blessed to have children that I love dearly, because many people do not. I'm blessed and joyous that they're so smart and unique in their own little ways. The way they hug me, and when they tell me they love me, and especially when my daughter shows me pictures she's drawn.

I'm filled with joy when I make a great meal for my family, because it's made with love.

I'm also very thankful that I've been through many adversities in my life and God always sees me through, even when I don't think He's listening. He always come through, even when I am doubtful. He's made my life so much more fulfilling.

I've also been filled with joy that after 5 months of being unexpectedly unemployed, that I found a new job and I start in two days, and it's only a little paycut, but one that I can live with. I'm a single mother of three, so having no income has been really difficult for us!

 

Another thing that brings me joy is papercrafting. My craft supplies are currently in storage so recently when I've had the urge to create, I had to suppress it. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get that stuff out of storage and start creating again!

This is one of my favorite cards EVER. It's got my favorite quote on it. (see below)

 

This quote (from above photo) brings me joy:

"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

Saving money also brings me joy - because I'm a huge coupon clipper, and because I'm on a strict budget (even without the not-working thing.)

Winning things that I can't afford brings me joy. I'm a huge tech geek and I can't always afford the newest thing, so when I win something it brings me joy. I recently won a laptop and that was one of my biggest prizes and resulted in loads of joyous feelings!

All in all, even when I am down in the dumps, I have so much to be joyous about, and the great part about this post is that it helped me to think about what I am thankful for and what brings me joy.