How My Nephews Taught Me about 'Joy'

I don’t know if you feel the same, I've always struggled to define 'true joy.'

But spending time with my nephews, my little angles, has been a revelation. Watching them, I've realized how effortlessly children embrace joy. Perhaps it's because they're free from the burdens of work, relationships, and ‘a future to plan’. Or maybe they simply haven't accumulated enough past memories to cloud their minds.

Children are masters of the present moment. They live fully in the here and now, finding joy in the simplest things. I always remember when Luke was so happy seeing the lights reflecting on his skin through the window of my bedroom, saying, ‘Look, it’s a rainbow. Looks like magic!’

As adults, we often feel the pressure to teach our children. But in the past two months with my nephews, I've been the one doing the learning. They've taught me so much about:

•  Being in tune with our emotions: Cry when they are upset and laugh when they are happy. Showing anger when they don’t get what they need and showing love when they get pampered by adults.

•  Living our best life in each moment: Children are all about ‘What now?’. They teach us the greatest lesson of moving forth in doing the things that we love. ‘Now’ is always better than ‘Then’.

•  Communicating what they need/Honest communication: When they’re hungry, they will tell me to feed them. When they are bored, they tell me to play with them. They don’t pretend that they are all happy and perfect. They are living true to who they are, simply authentic and straightforward.

• They show full interests and curiosity of learning about the world: Even the smallest things can spark their imagination and curiosity. Every little thing that happens to them is a new experience, even a shackle of lights can become magic 😝.

Spending time with children reawakens my inner child. Amidst the responsibilities and complexities of adulthood, I realized that my deepest desire is to remember my childhood dreams and rediscover the joy of living in the moment.

#findyourjoy

[REFLECTION PROMPTS]

What brings you pure joy? List 10 things that sparks your joy.

Reflect on your day, what makes you smile?

How can you learn to invite more joyful moments in your daily life?