Step #2- Tell Your Story

 Step #2 of Finding your joy is to tell your story. Say it out loud! When you say it out loud, then YOU hear it. Sometimes we keep things in, and then we don't deal with them. We keep bad things in, but we can also keep good things in too. 

Now, this doesn't mean you have to shout it from the rooftops(unless you want to), but even writing it down so you can re-read it, or to tell a trusted friend is a good place to start.

As you are telling your story, really pay attention to it. I bet you will find things that you have overcome, become stronger for having gone through, and you may find a lot of joys. 

If you do choose to write it down, don't go back and analyze it, just let it be. It is your story. All of it. The good, the bad, the sadness, the joy. It's YOUR story. So it is important. It is valuable. 

In fact, you might even have an opportunity to share it with someone who needs to hear it. If you have written it down, or told it already, you will be ready for when that opportunity comes around. 

Let's recap:

 Step#1- Only YOU can find your joy

Step #2 Tell your story

Here are my joys ending the week of November 14th:

1. We are putting a small choir together for church to sing on special occasions (it's nice to sing with Mark and Nate)

2. It was a 4-day week at school

3. We had Thursday off to honor our Veterans(thank you for your service)

4. My balancing my budget goals are going pretty well (it's a marathon, not a sprint!)

5. It was a good weekend to stay in, have soup, and snuggle!

#findyourjoy

Step #1

 For the next 7 weeks, I am going to highlight my 7 steps to finding your joy. I figure it's a good time to do this. I know I am already feeling anxious about the holidays. I'm busier than last year, and things are still different too. I need the reminder of finding my joy and thought maybe some of you do too.

Here we go!

Step #1- Only YOU can find your joy.

No one can find it for you. Honestly, it can be hard work. Really hard, but it is worth it. My hope for myself and you is that we can find deep down joys. The ones that really resonate with you deep in your soul. The ones that aren't fleeting. They are always there, but we can't always tap into them or recognize them. Other"stuff" prevents it sometimes. Busyness, sadness, being overwhelmed, or negativity can cloud our ability to get to those deep down joys. That is when you need to find the "surface" joys. They are just as important. 

You may be thinking, "Kim, I have no idea what the difference is between a "surface" joy and a deep down joy. " Let me give you an example:

Having my husband Mark in my life is a deep down joy. When I am upset with him because he didn't do something I asked him too, or I direct my anger toward him when he had nothing to do with my frustration, I can't find my joy that I have in him. He is a deep down joy though, because he lovingly corrects me and I find my joy again. It's always there, it's a constant. 

A "surface" joy is something quick and maybe temporary that reignites your joy spark. Things like sunshine, or birds singing. We need those joys. They have a purpose too. They are easier to find, and a good place to start. 

The key is YOU have to do the work. I can't say to you"hey, hear that bird, Doesn't that give you joy?" I mean I could, and would if you were really having trouble finding a specific joy, but it's better if YOU find it.

So, do some work this week at finding joys.... surface and deep down ones. You'll know if you are doing it when you start to notice people who aren't! 

I hope you can #findyourjoy this week!

here are my joys for the week ending 11/7:

1. A wonderful All Saints Sunday service

2. A fun Vendor show Saturday

3. Meeting with our financial advisor, I am so thankful for her.

4. Being able to have worked with and known Penny Rutledge. What a sweet and talented lady. 

5. Being able to share a classroom with Donna

Holiday Season and Joys ending week of 10/31

 It's Holiday season. I have mixed emotions about it too. It's a busy season and I'm usually exhausted with all of the things that go on. Last year was different. It wasn't as busy..... and you know something?  I LOVED IT! I was able to really slow down and enjoy the Holidays.  Now that the holiday season is upon us again, I'm hoping for better balance. I want to be able to enjoy the time without feeling overwhelmed or so busy that I missed it. As I look at my calendar (which is already looking busy), I'm beginning to get overwhelmed. So, I have to VERY intentionally carve out some time for ME. It may require saying "no" to some stuff, and people might be upset, but I have to do what is best for me. And I will.

Here are my Joys:

1. I was asked to sing a duet with a dear friend in a couple of weeks.

2. My student teacher started her new placement and is doing well.

3. I am getting ready for a Vendor Show on Saturday. They are always super fun

4. I'm started with my Christmas shopping and plan to buy all local!

5. We celebrated Paige and Jared's Anniversary(28th), Paige's Birthday (30th) and Jared's Birthday(today). with dinner at Jared's parents. It was such a nice time!

Have a great week and as always i hope you can #findyourjoy

How Do You Take Care of Yourself? and Joys ending the week of 10/24

 How do YOU take care of yourself? This is hard for women and especially moms. We are the care givers. This often puts us in positions where we don't take care of ourselves. Or we are last on the list of being cared for. 

As most of you know who read this blog every week, I was sick last week. I thought I was being careful and taking care of myself, but it happened. It was frustrating. 

I had also mentioned how I have started to look at how well I am taking care of myself. I am looking at how I'm doing physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. 

You CANNOT take all of it on at once. It's a gradual process. 

I like order. I like to have a plan. I always have. So, I decided that I need to have a morning plan and an evening plan.

About three weeks ago, I started with the morning plan. I looked at some posts of people who have a good morning plan in place. I decided a couple of things:

1. I cannot make a huge plan and expect that I will follow it.

2. It's okay if the plan doesn't happen!

I incorporated two new things into my morning plan. I figured I could do two things, and when I felt comfortable, I may add more. I added.... ready? Tongue scraping. I read a lot about it, and many people believe in it. I also dry brush in the morning. It helps my skin and helps me wake up and feel invigorated before I jump in the shower. If you want to know more about these two things, message me or go to Pinterest or any other site about it. 

Now I'm beginning to develop an evening plan. My evenings change day to day, and I need a plan to wind down so I can have a good chance at a restful night's sleep.  It's a work in progress, and it's helping me feel in control. I let you know how it is progressing!

Now to the Joys this week:

1. I was able to get a lot of rest this week.

2. My cold is almost gone!

3. I got a new vacuum. (I know that may be a weird one, but my house feels cleaner!)

4. After Mark and I bought the vacuum, we took a two hour drive to just look at the Fall leaves.

5. I was back at church this week playing, and it felt good!

I hope you have a great week and can #findyourjoy

A lot late and joys ending October 17

 This post is extremely late. I have been fighting a cold since Tuesday the 12th.  I had a 6- month doctor visit scheduled for the 19th, so I just waited. I got to the appointment and because of my symptoms, they wouldn't do the physical and wanted me to have a covid test. It came back negative.  I guess this is the way it is now. Anyway, I went to the testing site, and the person there was wonderful. She commented on how teachers are to be commended for everything we have done through the pandemic and all I could say to her was how much I appreciate all the healthcare community was going through. 

So now I wait. I wait for my results. I still feel like I have a cold, but you never know. 

It has renewed my sense of taking care of myself. I tend to get my first cold of the school year right around now. I want to be able to prevent it. I know there are things I can do to help my physical and mental health. Now to put it into action. 

I'll keep you apprised of my journey.

Here are my joys:

1. I had coffee with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

2. We were able to pick up where we left off and those are the best friends to have!

3. My student teacher is doing very well. She is almost done with her placement with me, but moving on to elementary school with an awesome teacher.

4. I was able to meet my budgeting goals with planning and making suppers.

5. It was Nate's birthday. He is an incredible person and a wonderful son.

Even though I still feel lousy, I can find joy, I hope you can #findyourjoy too!

When Life Feels Hard and Joys ending the week of 10/10

 Full disclosure. I have struggled this week. I had many moments where things felt completely overwhelming. I know many people who interacted with me this week might not think that I had a rough week, but I can be pretty good at hiding it. As a matter of fact, I have thought to myself more than once "Why are you giving people advice on finding joy when you struggle so much with finding it yourself sometimes?" 

But I guess that's the point. I do struggle, it's real. We all struggle with finding joy at certain times. That's when we need a loving community most in our lives. 

This pandemic has made people shy away(including me) from posting our struggles and even our joys for fear of retribution from people who have been.... well, just plain nasty and mean. How can you share your struggles and joys if you don't have a community that will cry when you cry, and then encourage you to find your joy. That's what I'm hoping to build.... A community where people can find their joy, and release their struggles with finding it when they can't. Then have a community of people come along side of them to help them find joy again. 

Here was my struggle this week. I got to a point of exhaustion where I was just mad. Mad because I wanted to know why everything seems SO HARD! . In comparison to others,  my life is not that hard. It just seemed hard. So, I took a drive. I took my mail(which had some catalogues in it), and went to a park. I sat at a picnic table and looked through my catalogues. It was quiet, it was beautiful out, and I just sat and enjoyed. I was there for about an hour and a half. It felt so good. 

I needed to get out of the house. If I stayed at my house to look through the catalogues, I would have just looked at all of the "things" I needed to do there. None of them were too important, but I was feeling so overwhelmed that they all seemed huge. 

It's okay to have to work at finding joy, and it's okay to let a few things go. I'm horrible at it, but I keep trying.  Just know that there is a community here. I really believe that the people that read this blog are genuine people of this community who wish to find joy and help others find joy too. 

Here are my joys for the week:

1. The weather was gorgeous this week.

2. When the rainy days came this week, I cooked soothing meals and took care of me!

3. I was able to be quiet in nature for 1 1/2 hours

4. I started a Posh party to raise money for Breast Cancer Research

5. We had a "pink" day Friday at school. I AM A SURVIVOR!

6. My dear friend Donna's daughter is getting married and we celebrated the couple at their wedding shower!

Keep walking forward everyday, and I hope you can #findyour joy

6 Years and Joys Ending the Week of October 3

 It was 6 years ago today that I went for my annual mammogram. I was 44 years old. I had only had 3 other mammograms ever, so I wasn't thinking that this one would be different. It was. That day, they found something, they did an ultrasound, and a biopsy. It took less than a week for me to now be a women with breast cancer. That day started a journey of doctor's visits, genetic testing, surgery, chemo, radiation, more surgery, and now the all clear! It has taught me a lot. Much of what I learned help sustain me through the craziness of the last year and a half. When I think of how hard this is today, I remember back to when I was in chemo and how hard that was. I do have lasting effects from chemo. I have permanent peripheral neuropathy. The rain today is making that flare up, but I'm here. I'm not in chemo or radiation. I am cancer free. 

Joys for the week ending October 3, 2021

1. Fall is here. It's cool and crisp in the mornings, and just the perfect temperature by afternoon

2. I have had some pain this week, but have been able to manage it.

3. It's Breast Cancer Awareness month and I am dedicating all of my commission from my Posh business to the Breast Cancer society of WNY

4. Friday night was perfect for a bonfire and a soak in the hot tub

5. Mark and I had a day date yesterday.

Here's to a good week keep striving to #findyourjoy