'Tis the Season of Joy
Thinking about it still makes me smile. It was just a couple of months after I met my husband (then boyfriend) John. I was new to the country and he was my official tour guide.
One November, he took me to Vegas and showed me everything there was to see along the strip and inside the fancy hotels. We reached the end of the strip at the Stratosphere with the last of his money. It was just enough for two tickets on the Big Shot, a ride I had mentioned (weeks prior) that would be a thrill to experience. I told him it’s fine if we skipped it but he insisted we do it since it was on my Vegas bucket list.
So on we went and it was a ride I’ll never forget. It was on top of the hotel, the tallest structure in Vegas (fifth in the US). In a matter of seconds, we were shot over 1,000 feet up in the air at 45 miles per hour and for a few seconds at the top, you feel as if you’re floating on top of Vegas with a sweeping view of a landscape that appears like a million twinkling stars.
It was magical.
Since that time, my husband has created many moments like this. Moments of delight that stills your breath and steals your heart - vulnerable, unscripted and evoke childlike joy in their simplicity.
My list-making and box-checking self has learned to embrace and live this this kind of spontaneity. I’ve since discovered that exhilarating experiences have a knack for hiding behind the simplest of moments. They show up unannounced and eager to please hearts that are open. Moments of delight are waiting when we let our guards down. When we take a chance. When we get out of our heads and brave trying something new.
In the coming weeks, as you sort through shopping lists, wrapping paper rolls and a tangle of cords, I hope you don’t just get lost in the routine of the season. That you unravel the joy hidden in the tiniest of moments.
Watch your breath form in the frosty air as you roll down the window. As you look at your kids’ faces as they steal one more sleepy look at the light- studded tree. The calm silence only broken by a crackle from the fireplace.
I wish you a magical season where you allow the ordinary to be extraordinary simply by deciding to pause and choose joy.
Marge
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