Picked up a random poetry book From the crowded shelf. Quick easy hour read: Delight and wonder. Then, Found…
Finding Joy, Hope, and Faith
Author, Emily P. Freeman, recently said in her weekly podcast, The Next Right Thing, “In hardship, joy is still possible. In disappointment, hope is still available. In uncertainty, faith is still a life line.”
I am home alone right now, laying on my carpeted floor, trying to ignore the pounding in my head as I get used to the new multi-focal contacts my eye doctor just gave me yesterday.
Anxiety is sitting next to me…
I want to record an audio file for my book, but the internal microphone keeps making this beeping sound. I don’t want to have to ask my husband for help again.
Soon, I have to leave to get to my counseling appointment. There may be slow traffic or an accident blocking my way. I will listen to an audiobook, but it is hard to follow when my head pounds like a constant drummer beating a song I do not want to hear.
Later, I have to make a treat to take to Girl Scouts tonight.
I need to email my daughter’s teachers.
And so on,….
That’s a little taste of things that go through my head constantly. Besides my vision problems, no wonder I have headaches daily.
Yet, when I listen to Emily P. Freeman (when I can get my brain to settle down and just listen), I feel comforted. Now, I do not know her. Nonetheless, she has become a confidant in the midst of my daily struggles. I may not be able to talk back to her, and still, she seems to get me.
Do you have someone like this to whom you can rely on?
My husband is my best friend and I know I can tell him anything. Still, getting him to understand my unique female perspective is sometimes difficult. When I worry I am not making the right job decision because I want to follow my heart, not our check book, he says I have always sought fulfillment in my career but he has never had that ability. I tell him my worries and know to expect his own black and white response. Sometimes it is still helpful. Then other times, I appreciate podcasts where I can listen to another female author reflect on similar issues I am having each day.
I do find joy in hardships because it teaches me to appreciate the strength I gain as a result.
I do find hope in disappointment because it makes me want to keep trying, to keep building patience, to keep hoping that one day my prayers will be answered in God’s time.
I do try to keep my faith in uncertainty because I have experienced feeling a heavenly embrace wrapped around me when I have doubted God’s part in my life.
As I say in my novel, Married to an Atheist A Love Story from Idaho, “Since our everyday life remains a gift, our everyday life is worth the fight to stay together,” (403). All relationships are worth the struggle. Each day is worth the hardships, the disappointments, the uncertainty in faith. What matters is that you keep trying to find that joy, hope, and faith to become a stronger you.
I may have constant anxiety. Still, I know that I can overcome it in order to find that peace within my heart. I just have to settle my brain down to listen to God, to listen to others like Emily P. Freeman, and to my husband. I can listen to myself too, particularly when I know what I need more than others (like a nap or alone time).
I have always found comfort knowing that even if I did not succeed at something, at least I tried.
Blessings to you today!
References:
Freeman, Emily P. The Next Right Thing. Episode 91, 27 Aug 2019. https://emilypfreeman.com/podcast/the-next-right-thing/91/.