The last day of August. I can’t believe summer is coming to an end. As sad as that is, I have to admit I am kind of excited for Fall. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. Of course my birthday coming up in September and the fact I’ve convinced my family we need to celebrate it for the entire month has nothing to do with why it’s my favorite 😉

With my birthday coming up in a few weeks I was flipping through an old journal entry from back when I turned 40. I was talking about how much my perspective of life had changed over the years, sharing a funny quote I had come across which read:

“At the age of 20, we don’t care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at 40, we discover that it wasn’t thinking of us at all.”

I went on in that entry to share that after all I had been through in my life at that point I felt I had come to understand what True Joy is. I wrote:

“I’ve discovered that TRUE JOY is this  –

*Waking up every morning with purpose

*Putting 110% of your heart and soul into accomplishing good things each day alongside people you love and respect and look up to

*Living your life with integrity and a desire to be a truly good person

*Sitting down for dinner with food on your table

*Eating that food with family you love while you share the details of each other’s day.  Laughing together, crying together, and loving each other unconditionally

*Kneeling down by your bed at night to thank God for all you have been given and asking Him to help you to be even more tomorrow than you were today.”

You know as much as things change in life, some things will always be the same, and that definition of true joy is as much true now as it was then.

Have a wonderful weekend holiday weekend everyone! Enjoy good food, family, love, and laughter as you celebrate Labor Day and I will talk with you again Tuesday.

~Amy Rees Anderson