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Bonus: Get ready for YOUR day to be made as well!

As you arrive at the end of the year, possibly with thoughts of the holidays on your mind… let me ask this question:

What brings you JOY? 

Oh, such a great subject!

It is so right and good to nurture joy in our lives!

Why? 

When we cultivate joy, it fills up our joy buckets. 

You know what happens with full buckets… they overflow!

Overflowing joy buckets are a very, very good thing.

Friends, without a doubt, the world we live in could use some joy.

I am sure you don’t need convincing.

With that in mind, wouldn’t it be fun to make someone else’s day on purpose?

Let’s make it easy

Sometimes, answering the “what brings you joy” question is difficult at first. 

No worries, here’s an article with a list of some things that bring joy, some you may not have considered before.

But if you’re looking for a shortcut, there’s one very powerful source of joy to consider incorporating more of into your life:  Connection. 

Real, heartfelt connection. 

Joy is found in the type of connection that happens when someone takes the time to really know you. You know, they:

• Ask you questions that allow you to share more, to be vulnerable.
• Aren’t prying, but they keep the conversation going from a place of curiosity and truly wanting to understand.
• Don’t want to change your mind or tell you you’re wrong.
• Never even try to tell you their story.
• Literally stop what they are doing just to GET you. 

Joy is found in meaningful connections because you feel like you matter… so your heart naturally responds with joyous gratitude.

It starts with us me

My suggestion is that we, as a joy-loving community, stop waiting for someone to do something.

We should intentionally reach out to people with the gift of connection.

We don’t have to ask for anything in return.

This isn’t about us at all.

Remember the whole “world that can use some joy” thing?

We can quit wondering when something is going to change for the better.

We can do something to CREATE it!

I am reminded of the Matthew West song, “Do Something,” specifically this line:

The truth in that line gets me every time.

It starts with us.

Wait. It starts with me.

Whose day do you want to make? 

Oh, the possibilities!

Have you ever thought about it?

“Whose day do I want to make today?”

I need to be honest, my eyes are welling up with tears of excitement as I type this, imagining who the recipient might be… and how badly they need that connection.

Just imagine who we could reach out to with the heartfelt gift of connection:

• The person you connect with could be a relative at the holiday table.
• He could be the man with the sign, the one you drive by, pretending not to see.
• She could be the insurance adjustor working on your home’s wildfire claim.
• He could be the kid who puts your curbside delivery in your trunk.
• She could be the weird lady at church who sings off key.
• He could be the custodian at work who never looks up.
• Or the underappreciated lady who delivers your packages.
• He could be the guy who stops to help you fix your flat tire.
• Or the well-dressed man who only seems to care about his own car.
• She could be the complete stranger you walk beside in a peace demonstration.

You may not see her again, but by taking the time to really hear her, the connection and joy you share will be lasting!

She will never forget feeling heard and seen and prioritized.

Can you imagine how that joy will affect her?

Who will she share it with???

Talk about making someone’s day!

And… what will knowing that do for yours?

Let’s show people they matter, starting today

Because the circumstances of 2020 make connection so important – maybe more necessary than any year in our lifetimes – I wanted to give you a jumpstart.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a connector, it does not have to be complicated.

Here are a few easy questions to have ready as you share the gift of genuine interest with people.  

It is really that simple… genuine interest.

Is that all?

Start with questions like these, but don’t stop there. 

It’s not hard to imagine where these conversations could go.

Keep the openness going with follow up questions… the simplest of which is, “I wonder why that is?”

None of these conversation-starters are alarmingly personal, yet they have the potential to bring out personal responses, especially with insightful follow-up questions.

They’re not challenging, but they can get the connection flowing quickly.

Big yay! This is easy! Let’s go!

If you like the questions above and would like more help getting the connections flowing, check out High-Quality Connection Cards (which is where the sample questions are from).

No, I didn’t create this product and while I’m not even an affiliate, I am someone who knows a joyful idea when she sees one.

Out of love, I am passing it on!

Are you a joy-hog?

One of best things about joy is its contagious nature.

Joy is meant to be shared!

If you’re reaching out and connecting, we want to know what happens!

It will bring us buckets of joy if you share your connection stories with us here in the comments. 

You can also share them with our community of nearly 500 joy-lovers in my private facebook group, The Joy Bucket.

Don’t be a joy-hog! Inspire us all with your moments of meaning.

Do something

The important thing is, we do something.

We live in a world that could use a joy-boost, and we are equipped to bring it to one deserving person at a time.

It’s vital that we make the decision to spread joy by connecting with the people in our map-dots and beyond. 

Perhaps certain individuals are present in this moment of our lives for this very reason. 💜

It starts with asking a simple question to the one connection-starved person on our path.

A few questions later, and without even saying the words (although, can you imagine if we did?), we are allowed the great privilege of delivering a much-needed message of “you matter.”

One person.

One moment at a time.

But we don’t do it alone.

We can start a movement of offering connection.

I’m in. If you’re in, and we get a few friends to join us… this time in our history – this crazy time – could also be remembered as a time of JOY!

Be sure to post your stories!

Until next time…