J O Y

I had a hard time with my name as a child.  No, not spelling it, just having it.  The "jokes" got old very fast.

Everything from being asked if I washed the dishes the night before (Joy dish washing detergent), to being in church and singing a hymn with the word joy (not even a capitalized "J") that made my friends all look at me.  We won't even discuss my least favorite Christmas carol (I would LOVE to make it through just a single Christmas without hearing or singing it . . .) or the Three Dog Night song.

I always appreciated having a name that's easy to spell, but not that people expected me to be, well, happy.  ALL of the time.  Honestly, that's my preference, but sometimes life just doesn't cooperate, and I get a little angry, upset, moody, and/or downright hostile.  Sometimes I get a lot angry, upset, moody and/or downright hostile.

Tonight, I was out running a couple of errands  when the clouds caught my attention.  Yes, I pulled over to the side of the road to catch the pictures.

When I took the first one, I thought I was focusing on the clouds and burst of sun coming through. But when I reviewed it on my phone, I thought it was out of focus.  So, I took another one, and it seemed to be in focus.

Technically, both of the pictures are in focus.  The first one had it's focal point on the raindrops on the windshield.  The second one was my intended point of the clouds/sky/sunlight.

The difference in how the pictures turned out made me think about what I've been focusing on, which led me back to my name.

Quite a few years ago, I read somewhere that the only way to find real joy or to maintain that joy in your life was to follow the directions of the letters of the word.

J - Jesus

O - Others

Y - Yourself

If you prioritize your life in that order, you will have true and lasting joy.  

Nope, it's not easy.  There are many days I'd rather it be spelled either yoj or yjo, with a few of yyy thrown in for good measure.

But for those times I actually put it into practice, there can be a lot of craziness or drama going on around me, and I don't get sucked up by it or in it; there's a calmness and peace, knowing it will eventually be okay.  I hope that calmness and peace reflects like the sunlight shining through the storm clouds.

The name carries a reminder and a responsibility.  I hope I remember more often to follow the responsibility of not putting myself first and it becomes an ingrained habit.