This Christmas I spent a lot of time with one of my cousins and his little boy. He kept using the word “delightful” and I kept teasing him about always using it. You know how you pick up phrases from someone that you are around a lot? Well, ever since then I’ve found myself saying that many things are delightful. Every time I use the word I think of how my cousin told me one day that it wasn't a word he used lightly. So, I’ve been looking into what it means. Basically, it means something that brings great joy to your life. As I’ve thought through it, I’ve realized that even in the midst of all of life’s crap there are moments of delight. For instance, the process of losing my good friend was hard, but the relationships that were built or strengthened with my cousins and friends throughout that process delight me. I think a lot of life comes down to choosing to find the moments of delight in the midst of the pain. Currently I’ve been fighting through the “spring-break’s-over-middle-of-semester” blues, and the fact that nothing in this program has gone the way I expected. In the midst of the turmoil and frustration it is important to find delight as well. So I decided to compile a list of things that have delighted me recently.
1. Having a four year old invite me to a tea party where a puffy dress was a necessity. And in addition, getting to play dress-up with my little sister again.
2. Drinking a really great bottle of wine with good friends.
3. The giggles of my niece as she soared through the air on this bungee cord/trampoline thingy on Pier 39 in San Francisco.
4. Tulip Trees. How could this not delight you?
5. A hike in the wilds of Tennessee that ends up on a cliff with the wind in my face.
6. The fact that my little brother is no longer in the military and gets to start a new adventure.
7. The redbuds, pear trees, daffodils, fosythias, tulips and myriad other blooming things that remind me to pull my head out of my books.
8. Playing silly games on skype that make a two year old boy giggle so hard he almost falls off his chair.
There are all kinds of amazing and wonderful things in the world, so my question now is, what delights you?
