Remembering Joy

I have gotten into a bit of a rut recently. I wasn't getting really excited about my work at the school and was just generally feeling blah. Yesterday I was riding on the bus thinking about this apathy and why it had seemed to settle in. Then it occurred to me, I had forgotten to take joy. The simplest thing in the world is to leave yourself open to the joys of the world around you, but it can be so easily forgotten. My key to this is to try and see the world through the eyes of a child, every beautiful sunset is new, and every smile shared is new. Just realizing that I had become blind to the world around me was enough to open them again. I looked out the bus window with fresh eyes and couldn't help smiling. I am in a beautiful place, surrounded by wonderful people, doing something I believe in. Of course as soon as I opened my eyes again joys started flooding in. I caught the eye of a beautiful little girl on the side of the road; she gave me a sparkling big smile then pulled on her mothers sleeve and pointed to me. The pair stood arm in arm grinning at me. How wonderful to share smiles with strangers and just add a little love to each others days. Then the man next to me on the bus, who up till now I had been ignoring, brought me a soda. I don't care how many times it happens, it is still just as surprising and wonderful each time and I hope it always is. Then I came home and my new English Samoan bible was delivered! How cool this is something I will have for life and can show my kids one day. Then at bible study the pastor made sure to add in some English so I wouldn't be totally lost and after the service his wife gave me chocolate covered peanuts! All these little things if they had happened yesterday may not have even been on my radar and I would have missed out on the joy they brought me. What a difference to see things with fresh eyes and take the joy that the world is offering. I'm sure I will forget and rediscover this a million times and hope it is just as much as a revelation each time.