Words to inspire Alphabet Advent Calendar 0512

Day 5
E is for Enjoy

I know I’ve explored this word in lots of my words to inspire but I think it’s ok because we all need a constant reminder of that word everyday. I know as a parent, sometimes it’s easy to forget to enjoy myself as I need to complete a task or get a job done.
There is one chore in the world which I dislike… ironing! When I have to do the week’s ironing I feel like the fun in my life stops for those hours. However, yesterday I decided to make ironing fun. With the help of my lil lady I created a musical ironing game. It was actually quite funny. I can’t give you the instructions of the game just yet, as I may need to package it and sell the concept for a lot of money…
Anyway the point I’m making is, even in the things we hate the most, we can find some enjoyment in doing them and make the dull things fun.
My life was very serious at one point especially after my mum died. I found myself in some very dark places and finding ways to enjoy life was very difficult. I didn’t smile or laugh a lot in those days. I believe the Almighty saw that and sent my children to me. Both my children came with challenges and at one point I thought, God what are you doing to me, but then one day they helped me to enjoy life in the midst of struggles.
Nae-Nae in particular is so funny but she doesn’t even know how funny she is. I remember telling her off one day when she was little and she just happened to be laying next to me on my bed. She just looked at me and said “Just roll over and go to sleep.” The audacity of that girl was just too funny. She helped me to lighten up. Sometimes I just need to lighten the heck up!
For 13 years of my life I worked in and managed services that were designed to empower people, enhance their life chances and help them to enjoy life. I coached many people to try and improve their wellbeing. At times I would come out of a home visit totally drained because I had the life sucked out of me. Sometimes it was really hard to help people to enjoy the slightest of things in their lives due to deep rooted issues.
However there was one man I will never forget. He was blind, had HIV and lots of other health conditions. One day I took him out to the town I wasn’t familiar with and I got us both lost. He actually laughed about it. He couldn’t help me find the way back to my car and I had no clue. I felt so bad but he thought it was hilarious.
A few years later he was diagnosed with cancer on top of everything else and guess what? He still found ways to enjoy life and laugh all the time. Even though my heart hurt every time I saw him, he brought me so much joy too. One day he said something to me along these lines: “I have been dying for years but I’m still here. I know I’m going to go and we all will go, so I’m gonna laugh my way out.” That choked me, and to his word he did just that. The last time I saw him before he died we were cracking up with laughter.
I went to his funeral and I couldn’t even be sad because weirdly enough I just kept hearing him laugh. He didn’t believe in being miserable. Yes he didn’t always make the right choices and some of his choices caused his illnesses but with everything he still found ways to enjoy himself. So when other clients told me they couldn’t ever enjoy themselves in my heart I would disagree but sometimes I just let them have their moment.
Enjoyment is also a choice. You can choose to find some of it or not. When I’m down I actually remember that man and smile. I’m equally going to laugh as much as possible and even enjoy the ironing.
Enjoy!

Peace and love

MrsJK