{"id":6730,"date":"2016-01-15T07:16:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T13:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?p=6730"},"modified":"2017-02-22T15:12:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T21:12:00","slug":"finding-lost-joy-the-way-we-find-lost-pets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/2016\/01\/15\/finding-lost-joy-the-way-we-find-lost-pets\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Lost Joy the Way We Find Lost Pets"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n “Come back, Joy.<\/em> Lately, I've received\u00a0an influx of\u00a0messages from readers that contain a\u00a0painful truth: Many of us have lost our joy. Many of us are simply going through the motions. Many of us see the way our irritability hurts the ones we love\u2014but we\u00a0continue our\u00a0unpleasantness anyway. We taste the bitterness of our words before they come out of our mouths\u2014but we say them anyway. Many of us can\u2019t remember the last time we were the party<\/a> \u2026 the gathering place \u2026 the heartbeat of our family. Many of us have lost our joy and haven\u2019t the slightest idea how to get it back.<\/p>\n I know the feeling.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever forget.<\/p>\n I recently reflected on that difficult period of my life while out for a walk. A handmade sign stapled to a telephone pole caught my eye. Franklin the cat was missing. I stopped and studied the lovingly made poster despite the winter wind trying to move me along. My eyes became wet just thinking of those who loved Franklin and desperately wanted to see his furry face again.<\/p>\n Come back, Franklin<\/em>. I pleaded in my head. Come back.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019d pleaded those same words about Joy a few years prior. Oh how I\u2019d longed to see Joy\u2019s optimistic face and feel her enthusiastically squeeze my heart and hand.<\/p>\n When I got home from my walk that day, I wrote a poem. It seems fitting\u00a0to share it today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like They Do For Lost Pets<\/strong><\/p>\n Peace left my house without so much as a goodbye. <\/em><\/p>\n I haven\u2019t seen Patience in quite some time. <\/em><\/p>\n Stillness doesn\u2019t come around much anymore. It\u2019s always go-go-go \u2018round here.<\/em><\/p>\n Hope is scarce.<\/em><\/p>\n Self-love is a stranger.<\/em><\/p>\n Enthusiasm has gone and left me spiritless.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Courage is missing. <\/em><\/p>\n Focus has completely abandoned me. <\/em><\/p>\n I think I\u2019ll put up a sign like they do for lost pets. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCome back, Joy,\u201d it will read. <\/em><\/p>\n Come back, Gratefulness. Because life\u2019s just not the same without you. <\/em><\/p>\n I vividly remember how I felt when I woke up each morning during that difficult period. I\u2019d crawl out of bed irritable, ungrateful, tired, and bitter; I dreaded the day ahead because I knew it would be much like the day before. One morning, I decided to do something I hadn\u2019t done in a long time. I decided to put a note in my daughter\u2019s lunch box. My pen hovered over the sticky note as I debated on what to write. I thought about drawing a smiley face, but that seemed so far from the truth given the current status of my smile. So I wrote four\u00a0words instead:<\/p>\n I love you Avery!<\/em><\/p>\n Because that was truth. My love for this child was still there. It would never, ever go\u2014no matter how far away my smile was.<\/p>\n When I cleaned out Avery\u2019s lunch box that night, I discovered the most remarkable thing.\u00a0My love note had multiplied. Apparently there had been a blank sticky note attached to mine. Avery had written back to me. It said, \u201cI love you, Mom,\u201d but it might as well have said, \u201cThis is worth living for.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n I couldn't explain why, but I urgently taped her note to the kitchen cabinet. Then I got another one of her notes and put it on my closet door. I placed another one on my bathroom mirror. What I know now is these signs served as tangible reminders to look for Joy. The signs reminded me to be aware, be present, and awake. Much to my surprise, I found Joy in the smell of my husband\u2019s aftershave when I hugged him, so I breathed it in. I found Joy in muffin tins so I accepted Natalie\u2019s invitation to bake something together in the kitchen. I found Joy in my own poetic scribbles so I wrote a little bit each day. I found Joy in a small handprint on the sunroof<\/a> of my car against a backdrop of white clouds. The more I looked for Joy in unexpected moments, the more it came around. And now, six years later, I am grateful to report\u00a0joy lives here permanently.<\/p>\n
\nCome back, Gratefulness.<\/em>
\nCome back, Energy.<\/em>
\nCome back, Zest.<\/em>
\nI\u2019m looking for you.<\/em>
\nAnd I won\u2019t stop until I find you.\u201d
\n<\/em>\u2013Rachel Macy Stafford<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>Come back, Energy.
\n<\/em>Come back, Zest.
\n<\/em>I\u2019m looking for you.
\n<\/em>And I won\u2019t stop until I find you.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n