Simplicity of Joy

What if the cure for your spiraling stress isn’t doing more — but noticing less?

Have you ever had one of those mornings when, no matter how hard you try, your stress level just keeps building? The kind where you wake up and do all the “right” things — get a good night’s sleep, meditate, exercise, eat well, go to church, take a walk — and somehow the tension still lingers? You can feel it sitting just beneath the surface, knowing that if someone so much as pokes at it… you’re going to pop.

Well, I had one of those mornings. And try as I might to hold it together… BAM — it popped.

I stubbed my toe on the way into the kitchen and burned my lip on my coffee. A few choice words slipped under my breath. And then — a knock at the door.

Good grief. Who could this be? I was in no mood to deal with anyone.

I shuffled to the door, scowl firmly in place, irritation still bubbling.

When I opened it, there stood Jack, my neighbor’s 8-year-old son. He stops by every now and then with a couple of friends to play with our kitten. That huge smile. That hopeful, childish gaze.

Ahhh. Just what I didn’t know I needed.

The boys ran in. The kitten sprinted toward them. Smiles and giggles filled the room. And just like that — my stress evaporated.

There was something almost sacred in the simplicity of it all. Just a boy and a kitten. No deadlines. No expectations. No fear or pressure. Just delight. Just presence. Just joy.

Sometimes I think I get so caught up in the hundreds of activities I believe I need to manage stress that I miss the entire point. Maybe it doesn’t take adding more practices, more strategies, more discipline.

Maybe it takes subtracting.

-Lisa Briggs Davis