Cultivating Joy
January 11, 2021
I am calling 2021 the Year of Cultivating JOY. My New Year’s resolution is to cultivate joy in my life. After the year we had in 2020, something has to change and I believe JOY is it. JOY is a choice. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). As a believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit continually resides in me, so JOY is totally available to me all the time. But, I have to bear that fruit. Jesus is the vine and I am the branch according to John 15:5. Fruit doesn’t grow on the vine, it grows on the branches (me).
I want to grow JOY fruit this year. But, I have to plant and cultivate it. If I want to grow tomatoes, I have to plant tomato seed. Then, I have to water it, feed it, and keep the bugs and weeds down. And then, I have to harvest those tomatoes. I can’t harvest tomatoes if I don’t deliberately plant and cultivate them. I also will not enjoy my tomatoes if I don’t go out and pick them off the vine. My efforts are for nothing if I let the fruit that I cultivated rot on the vine. So, I want to become an expert of growing and harvesting JOY this year. I hope you will come along on this journey!
I recently watched a fascinating TedTalk on YouTube titled Where Joy Hides and How to Find It by Ingrid Fetell Lee (dated June 11, 2018). She concluded her talk with this statement: The drive toward JOY is the drive toward life. Wow! That’s what I want! She identified several things that were markers of a JOY-ful feeling. Among those markers were pops of bright colors, abundance or multiplicity, round or symmetrical objects, and anything that brought a feeling of elevation or lightness. A perfect example of all these markers is found in the beauty of a rainbow. Rainbows make us JOY-ful! The storm is over!
Her observations got me to thinking about JOY and how I can make little steps to introduce more of it into my life. In a recent Facebook post, I shared this photo of my old 2020 planner sitting next to my new 2021 planner. I intentionally picked a new calendar with bright colors because I look at it literally dozens of times every day. I am trying to insert little bits of JOY into my day. What shocked me the most was the stark contrast of this new one next to my old planner with the professional looking, business-like stripes. But, frankly, as I stared at the photo, those stripes began to look more like prison bars! I love my job, but am I approaching it with JOY? Something to think about.
And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; It shall rejoice in His salvation! Psalm 35:9
