Our first Reclaim Your Sparkle Retreat was a hit!
We received this email the following morning.
“Thanks to you both for jump starting a “journey of joy” yesterday.
I loved the life lessons you taught, and my daughter loved the “sparkly” gifts. (She even brought the wand to Pre-K with her today!) Made me realize one more reason I want to be sparkly: To provide an example of living, loving joy; I want her always to think of me as a “sparkly mommy!” Thanks for sharing your gifts and insights, and keep up the great work! ” Kristi
Kristi’s phrase “a journey of joy” has really stuck with me. It got me thinking about how I’m creating a journey of joy in my own life. Here are a few of the ideas that came to me while reflecting on the experience.
1. Spend time with like minded individuals. Working with my friend Beth Leas from the TLC Center to create this retreat experience was easy peasy! Choosing to spend my time with people who are supportive, positive, and fun and certainly makes the journey more joyful. I also find it interesting that as I chose to spend my time with these types of people, more keep appearing. They just keep multiplying!
2. Embrace the process. I am a completionist. I don’t even know if that’s really a word (spell check doesn’t recognize it). I like to get things done and cross them off my list. But hearing Kristi’s use of the word JOURNEY, reminded me that joy is NOT a finish line. It’s pursuit is an ongoing adventure. Sure, it was wonderful to see our work materialize into a lovely afternoon with special women, but it was so much fun getting there too! In fact, we’ve already got the fall Sparkle Retreat scheduled (mark your calendar for Sept. 28th) and I know there’ll be plenty of laughs as we plan the next phase.
3. Eat dessert first. Metaphorically speaking. Although, I’m not opposed to a literal interpretation! What I mean is that at times I’ve spent so much time delaying the things that I really enjoy…curling up with a good book, going for a walk, watching a movie, soaking in the bath tub, in an effort to get the “important stuff” done first, like laundry, groceries, cleaning, emails. I’m not advocating letting the dust bunnies take over your life, but the chores will always be there. When we delay joy, what are we really gaining?
This should give me a joyful start at least! And if I continue to embrace the process, I can be assured that many more lessons will reveal themselves, providing I have my sparkly wand in hand!