Returning to Joy (Again and Again)
When I wrote Reflections of Joy, I poured my heart into the lessons I had learned about living with purpose, faith, and gratitude in the second act of life. It wasn’t just a book; it was a roadmap drawn from my own stumbles and restarts. Writing it required me to pause, reflect, and name the places where I had wandered away from joy, and the surprising ways God kept leading me back.
But here’s the truth I didn’t expect: those lessons aren’t “one and done.” I’ve had to live them again and again.
I sometimes catch myself slipping back into old patterns—letting my health slide, filling my schedule until I’m too busy to breathe, or listening to the quiet lies that say I’m not enough. It’s humbling, isn’t it? To teach a lesson, only to realize you need to relearn it yourself.
And yet… that is the beauty of joy. It’s not a destination to arrive at once, but a rhythm we return to daily. Sometimes hourly. Joy is in the small practices: choosing gratitude before comparison, presence before perfection, faith before fear. It’s in watching my grandsons discover the world, in quiet morning prayers, in laughter with friends, getaways to peaceful places, and in the gift of a fresh page when I sit down to write.
If Reflections of Joy taught me anything, it’s this: falling out of rhythm doesn’t mean I’ve failed. It simply means I get the chance to start again. Each time I circle back, I find new depth in the same truth. Joy isn’t lost, it’s waiting to be rediscovered.
That’s the heartbeat of the book I’m writing now: What I Wish I’d Known: Living Fully and Leaving a Legacy of Faith. Because just as I’ve had to return to joy again and again, I’ve also had to return to faith, to purpose, and to the lessons I wish I could whisper to my younger self. The legacy I long to leave for my children and grandchildren isn’t perfection- it’s the lived-out truth that God’s grace always welcomes us back, no matter how many times we need to start over.
So here I am, learning my own lesson once more. And maybe you need this reminder too…
You don’t have to get it perfect. You just have to come back.
Again and again.
