Apologies that it has taken a bit to get up our next blog. We had kids home with colds, day care shutdowns and family logistics to sort out. I write this, not looking for empathy, but to show you all that we are going through this too and we are dealing with the same stressors. I also write this because it is what gave me the idea for this blog.

Joy. Happiness. Delight. These are words that are hard to come by these days. I’m struggling with it and I know that many of you are too. So I’m taking a whole blog post to focus on it.

A friend of mine reminded me that joy is not circumstantial, but a position we choose to take. We can choose joy. And if joy is hard to come by right now, it’s possible that we are allowing something else to take its place. For me, it’s that I have been taking on too much and not allowing myself time to rest. I’ve been doing a lot mediocre-ly and I need to focus on doing less to a higher standard. That will help me find my joy again.

The other evening, after a tough day with the kids and work, Tom and I took a moment to play Hide & Go Seek in the house with the boys. The game then turned into “Jump on Daddy on the Couch.” All four of us ended the evening with smiles, laughter and glee. Tom turned to me afterwards and said, “This. I want more of this.”

It’s been said a lot and you will hear it again – this has been a year. Let’s end it with joy. We all need to Marie Condo our lives right now and decide what brings us joy and what doesn’t. And if it doesn’t – say thank-you and kiss it goodbye.

Disclaimer – I do understand that there are things in all of our lives right now that do not bring us joy but we don’t have the control over it to kiss it goodbye. I’m encouraging us to focus on what we do have control over.

Take stock of your happiness. Enjoy the little moments. End the year as an optimist (I’m going with realistic optimism, but still focusing on the positive!). And figure out what brings you joy and do more of that!

Happy holidays to our Netop family and we will see you in the new year!

Wishing you joy and happiness,

Lisa