52 on Fridays (50/52) Joy

We are an Elf on the Shelf house, and, yes, I am one of "those" moms. Our elf is pretty adventurous. She has wrapped our toilet in obnoxious pink wrapping paper. She has set up a kissing booth. She even made her own Pinterest board. She does this things because they bring an incredible lightness and sense of anticipation to many members of my house. If you could hear my Ella running every morning to find Rosie and then squealing with laughter and delight, you would know the true sound of joy.

Lately I've had some negative feedback not only about our adventurous elf but also about my general life view that there is much to celebrate in the world. It is easy to look at someone else and quickly judge their approach to life as fake or over-the-top or even as a commentary on how you should do things. Before you do that, ask yourself if it matters. If you see someone putting some joy in their world and you don't like it, move on and let it go. Most of the time their actions have nothing to do with you. Maybe they are taking steps to lessen pain in their own world one ridiculous elf prank at a time.

If you want to read about an amazing woman that decided in the face of some pretty tough struggles to choose joy please visit Little Blue Boo. What an inspiration! And if you want to see another source of joy in pictures, please visit my friend, Jackie.