JOY in the changing of seasons. The streets are beautifully littered with half a rainbow of reds, oranges, and yellows. The simple passing of a car, sends a cloud of natural confetti swirling in its wake. The trees in our yard and at the mini-golf course are not yet mature enough to drop enough leaves for us to do anything about. As a child, raking leaves rated right up near the top of my least favorite chores of all time. As a parent, one of my most favorite pics of the 1-6 hangs in our hallway, him bundled like the Michelin Man, with a rake twice his height, standing next to a pile of leaves that came up to his waist. The pictures that follow are of him throwing the leaves amuck. It is the perfect reminder of the ebb and flow of life, of birth and death, of fall and spring. So too has been this year of JOY. In December, every ornament, twinkling light, homemade star, Charlie Brown Christmas tree brought JOY. By February, JOYs season brought some very difficult student situations in which my heart ached with the lessons of JOY they brought me. March through June, JOY found itself tightly aligned with the 1-3s sport seasons. The summer months, the seasons of JOY were found in the oddest of places, box alder infestations, hard drive crashes, and delayed office moves. September found JOY amid a rebirth of another set of school years and now October has arrived. This past weekend, brought the JOYs season of purpose. I didnt really see it under Sunday, but in hindsight, each day built on the previous until JOY was clearly illuminated in my mind. DAY 321: Im sorry. The friend whispered. I have been down this road before. Apologies for this action have been off limits for a really long time. The action of which I speak is friendship. Acting out of friendship, the friend uttered Im sorry. I wish I knew then what I knew by DAY 323, because I would have been able to say something more than remember apologies dont fly in this space. JOY in being able to exhibit friendship in the most difficult of places. DAY 322: Im sorry to ask, but could we have lunch. The text came from another dear friend. Sorry? I was starting to develop a complex. Why are people apologizing to me for engaging in acts of true friendship. When we finally connected, our timing found us sharing beers over dinner at a local watering hole. Ive been blessed many times over watching this friend mature in my life first as a student, followed by a coach to the 1-3 and 1-6, followed by a peer, but most importantly maturing as a friend. JOY in having time for lunch or in our case, dinner. DAY 323: JOY in always being a student of life, and love, and JOY! Im trusting that theses days arrived in the appropriate order, but I wonder had I been privy to the wisdom on DAY 323, if I would have been a better friend in Days 321 and 322? People wont think I am using them, asked one friend of a second. What? No! The second friend said incredulously. Theyll thank you! The second friend said. And then she uttered the words I wish I had heard three days ago: In fact, Thank you, thank you for letting me help! It was one of the most powerful things I have witnessed this year. It will be a lesson I carry with me forever. So often we convince ourselves that asking for help is simply a shifting of burdens from us to the helping party, but when reframed as it was: you give me purpose, I found the JOY. It was genuine. It was real. It was heart-felt. It was JOY. It is not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating JOY for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of person kind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely. - Leo Buscaglia I think at one time or another we are all lost or lonely. I was, and when I was the friend of DAY 321, reached down into the quagmire and pulled me out. It was in that moment that apologies for doing things that friends do for one another was born. May this week bring you JOY that can only come from an opportunity in which you can say thank you for letting me help.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 02:21:39 +0000
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