Joy

     Life is a series of moments. The bad moments seem to drag by and the good ones seem to be gone in the blink of an eye. This is why we have to treasure those moments of joy. I don't mean moments fleeting happiness that you won't remember a few days from now. When I say moments of joy, I mean the moments that you wouldn't trade for anything, the ones when you experience pure happiness free from worry and distraction, the times when you laugh so hard you think you might pass out, and when you step back you realize that these moments do not come along very often.
     This passed break I had one of those moments. My friend Charlie and I went to Oregon to visit some of our friends from state office. The first couple of days were spent solely with an amazing family that we had gotten the chance to know in the past year. We spent Christmas with them and we were treated as a part of the family. The moment I am speaking of happened on day 3 of our trip. Charlie, Luke, Grace, and I went steel head fishing. Now this is not like the fishing us Floridians are used to, no no, there is a technique that everyone in the boat must master in order to catch a fish. We watched a video about it the night before, threw some casts before we boarded our row boat and we thought we were ready to go. From the very beginning the day way a little off. On my second cast, before we got in the boat, I got my line caught on a rock and apparently my hot chocolate spilled all over the place when Luke took the truck to the spot were we were to get out of the river. Finally, we loaded up the boat and were off. Our first cast was awful, charlie couldn't get his line right, mine got caught on Graces and I got hit in the face with fish eggs. The rest of the trip went about the same way...needless to say we did not catch a fish. I know what your thinking, "Man this sounds awful!" but, it was just the opposite. We laughed nonstop the entire day and there was a moment when I looked around and realized in that moment I was completely and utterly happy, I didn't have a care in the world and there was with a few of the most amazing and beautiful people I know. This is a day and a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life. I am so grateful for the experiences I have had and the moments that have changed my life for ever. At the time I just thought we were having fun on a fishing trip, little did I know that this moment would become one of my favorites. I am so blessed to be able to say that I have experienced moments of pure joy. Have you?
          Have you taken the time to look around in awe at the world? Have you ever taken a moment to look at the people in your life and realize that they are eminently special and you don't know what you would do without them? Do me a favor and take a moment to think about how much real joy you have in your life and if at the end of that time you see that you have a lot, find more. And if at the end of that time you find you do not have enough then look at those who love you and those who would do anything for you....they are part of the joy you may be looking for.