My kid’s joyous enthusiasm while making and wrapping presents tonight is so precious. [And to top it off they’re all making my favorite desert in the world!! No idea what it’s called but it has banana pudding with hard dark chocolate on top. Yum!!] I don’t feel like my birthday is a big deal, but it sure is to them! I remember when I used to get excited for everything, what happened?

I haven’t been into celebrating much of anything and it’s been getting more so each year. Birthdays are just another day, holidays are good time to visit with family but not concerned with the actual event. Isn’t this blasé attitude called maturity?

Come to think of it, blasé is just the lack of enthusiasm for something. Isn’t that what’s missing from life? Having anticipation for the future?Enthusiasm? A real love for life? That’s true joy!

So how do you live joyously?

Luckily I grew up with someone who truly lives a joyous life and loved it!
My nana always loved celebrating everything and lived each day to the fullest.

I remember Nana’s joyful “You Who!” every time she came through the door everywhere she went. People just loved her. Her joy and enthusiasm for life was one-in-a-million. I was fortunate to have grown up knowing what the unconditional love of life looks like – she truly spread infectious joy!

We all enter into this world expressing joy! As young children we all just love life. We’re amazed and curious about the world around us. As children we live in the moment as children with excitement for the future. Nana kept that joy for her entire life. I was privileged enough to spend my childhood witnessing how much joy Nana put into life as well as how much joy she got out of life.

One way Nana expressed joy was through her relationships with others. People she sat next to on a trip or met at her numorous social clubs went into her address book. She mailed handmade Christmas cards to every single one of them and wrote pen pals for years. After she passed away her address book weighed in at over 5 pounds! I’m sure she would’ve maxed her 5,000 Facebook friends limit pretty quickly!!

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Remembering Nana always brings a smile to my face and a tug in my heart. The joy Nana shared with everyone she met was not exclusively hers though. Abundant joy and excitement at being alive is in all of us from the beginning. Unfortunately most people lose touch with it along the course of their life.

By accepting a blasé maturity, you lose the child-like joy of living. Today is just another day, but it’s another joyous day!! My intention is to celebrate every moment with child-like enthusiasm just like my Nana did.