Joy and Cookie Jars

Image Description: Against a black and grey marble background, a hand is showing holding a clear cookie jar. The jar is open with the lid hanging down to the left. Two cookies still sit in the jar while 3 are outside of the jar, suspended in air above it. (Image Credit: Photo by Tijana Drndarski on Unsplash)

Two posts that I read in the last week really inspired me.

The first one came from

Alex Elle

An Open Letter

The biggest thing I learned from writing a letter to Joy is that she shows up in my life way more than I thought it did, I just didn’t recognize it. I thought Joy had to look like these big sweeping moments. Going on long trips abroad, having these wild moments, experiencing big life changes. Living what, to me, was a “big” life. I didn’t think my “small” life really had too many moments of joy, but when I started to write, I found that just the opposite was true. They may seem “small” but in almost everyday, I have at least one moment of joy. Whether it be sitting in my TV lounge as I call it, with a candle lit, reading my favorite book, seeing a beautiful sunset, or sharing a laugh with someone…those are all moments of joy for me. The greatest thing that writing a letter to Joy did for me, was that it made me more cognizant of the ways in which Joy appears in my day-to-day life. I look for or recognize those moments much more now.

The second post I read that really inspired me was another great one from

Chris Anselmo

:

Cookie Jars and Compliment Sandwiches

It really got me thinking about these “cookie jar” moments in my life. The Cookie Jar method, as described by its creator, David Goggins, and Chris in his post is “simple; all you have to do is write down moments when you persevered through adversity or accomplished something meaningful.”

That inspired me to make a list of my own Cookie Jar life moments:

1. Starting this Substack

2. Getting laid off and being unemployed for a brief time but being able to stay afloat (with some definite help)

3. Doing an entire trip totally on my own

4. Making it through the worst job I ever had and ending up at the best one

5. Traveling to 10 countries that weren’t always accessible

6. Living with a disability…everyday

I’m sure there are many more that I could come up with if I think about it over the next few weeks or even months. I really liked how Chris’s post tied in with the joy post for me too. The things above are my “bigger” cookies, but I think there are smaller cookies in my everyday too. Sometimes just making it through the day can be a small cookie for me. Finding those moments of joy in a day can be a cookie. I’d like to fill my proverbial jar up with as many of those as possible.

I hope in 2024 your lives are filled with many moments of Joy and lots of cookies (literal or figurative…you do you). Would love to hear some of both that you’ve already experienced too.

Until next time…