The last day of August. I can\u2019t believe summer is coming to an end. As sad as that is, I have to admit I am kind of excited for Fall. It\u2019s one of my favorite times of the year. Of course my birthday coming up in September and the fact I\u2019ve convinced my family we need to celebrate it for the entire month has nothing to do with why it\u2019s my favorite \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
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:<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the age of 20, we don\u2019t 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\u2019t thinking of us at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
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:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve discovered that TRUE JOY is this\u00a0 \u2013<\/p>\n
*Waking up every morning with purpose<\/p>\n
*Putting 110% of your heart and soul into accomplishing good things each day alongside people you love and respect and look up to<\/p>\n
*Living your life with integrity and a desire to be a truly good person<\/p>\n
*Sitting down for dinner with food on your table<\/p>\n
*Eating that food with family you love while you share the details of each other\u2019s day.\u00a0 Laughing together, crying together, and loving each other unconditionally<\/p>\n
*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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
~Amy Rees Anderson<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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