Hi everyone. It’s nearly the end of the month and this means it’s time for me to update you all on my word of the year. As usual, I’m joining the #WOTY linky, as well as Lisa’s One Word linky. My word of the year, as I’ve said before, is “JOY”.
Early in the month, I had a horrible setback, as I got the news that my now former assigned staff would be quitting her job at my care facility. This caused some major sadness and emotional turmoil in me, but after a while, I was able to channel it into something good by creating something for her – a polymer clay hedgehog. I enjoyed the creative process and the smile I brought to her face when I gave her the gift.
Overall, I did find that my joy or lack thereof was more than in the previous months tied to my material success, in the sense that, if I felt I was failing at a crafty endeavor, I didn’t enjoy it either. The same goes for my blog: I was ecstatic when reading all the positive comments to the poem I wrote last week, but didn’t enjoy writing when I had the idea that I wasn’t “successful” in my blogging.
Similarly, my joy is also more tied to material possessions than it used to be. For example, the day my former assigned staff left, I ordered a stuffed dolphin for comfort. While this did help me, maybe at other times I would’ve been able to seek joy without having to spend money. I am not saying spending money on comfort items is necessarily bad, but ultimately, they aren’t material things that will bring me joy.
Joyful experiences included a visit to the trampoline on the last day my now former assigned staff worked my one-on-one shift, eating out with my husband and a visit from my sister and her family. While they involved material things too, in the sense that we spent money on the dinner and my sister gave me some beautiful belated birthday gifts, the experiences themselves were truly great.
In some good news, I did do some Bible reading everyday again this week, while I’d hardly done any over the rest of the month. It is causing me a lot of emotions.
Overall, the month of July was filled with some high peaks but a lot of deep lows too. I must say though that, considering the impact of my staff leaving, I was expecting much worse. I really hope the month of August will be better.
A Multitude of Musings 
Life is full of peaks and troughs, highs and lows and sometimes we just have to find joy where we can. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your WOTY progress in #2022WOTY link up. I’m sending you my best wishes for a more joyful month in August and look forward to reading how your month goes. Take care x
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Thanks so much for your kind words. Yes, I agree, life is full of highs and lows.
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Loosing a trusted helper can bring a person down. Keep up the positive feelings.
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Thanks for sympathizing. Yes, I’ll definitely try to stay positive.
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You’re welcome my friend
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I am glad you managed to channel your sadness into something good for the assigned staff member who left the job. It sounds like you have had a tough month. I am glad you have found some joy! x
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It was indeed quite a tough month. Thanks so much for your words of comfort.
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Hi Astrid, I’ve not been blogging for a while so not sure we’ve et. I hope you get a new assigned staff member. Will that be the case? Perhaps they’ll be a happy surprise and something good will come from your old staff member leaving.
I can relate to your comment about feeling like you’re ‘failing’ at blogging and other things. I’m not as resilient as I would like and find myself getting upset or depressed (and devoid of joy) far too easily. I envy those who can find gratitude and comfort in everything.
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I’m not sure we’ve met either, but nice to meet you if we haven’t. I blog fairly often, but not as often as I’d like to or as some other bloggers do. As for finding comfort in the little things, I try to, but it’s really hard indeed.
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Sounds like you really had some hard things this past month. And, yes, sometimes we need the material things to help lift our spirits. They are only temporary, but they do help. Our greatest joy can come through trusting God. It’s not always easy, but I’ve found by spending lots of time in the Psalms and even using some of them as a lament really helps me see where my true joy comes from. May God bless you and may this month be a happier one for you. Blessings to you! I’m your neighbor at Lisa’s Linkup.
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Thanks so much for your encouraging words. They mean a lot to me. I don’t really know the psalms all that well, but I do know that out of 150, at least 60 are psalms of lament in themselves.
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I’ve been feeling as though I’ve been failing at writing of late and while I know I shouldn’t fall back into my usual escapist habits, sometimes it’s hard not to. Logically I know it needs to come from within but every so often… I’m sure you know the deal. Here’s to more ups than downs in August.
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Thanks so very much! I completely feel you and wish you a better writing month of August.
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I’m hoping your August will be better than your July. It’s easy to fall back on material things to bring us joy because it’s so tangible, but I’ve found that experiences usually bring me more lasting joy. However I do love my new iPhone, so there’s that. 🙂 I finally had to get a new one because my old was was about to stop working. So glad you linked up with us!
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Thanks for stopping by! Yay for a new iPhone. I might get one this fall or winter when the new models are out and once iOS 16 works properly with VoiceOver, but my current iPhone so far still works.
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It’s great that you focussed your upset and turned it into something creative to make a gift. I hope the new caregiver will be someone good.
Thank you for sharing your journey with the word ‘joy’. Very inspiring.
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Thanks so much for your supportive comment. I am so glad I was able to give my old assigned staff that present indeed. My new one is good too, though I do still need to build up trust in her.
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