Coloring for Joy

"So I was sitting there coloring a Disney princess... I mean playing with my lovely daughter Elleyana and..."

I'm going to be honest, I love being a dad for lots of reasons.  One is that after years of being "too old" I get to do all kinds of great stuff again.  I go down slides, I play with toys, and I get to color without being judged by others.  The only time I get embarrassed is when I look up from playing with plastic animals and realize that Elle had left the room about 15 minutes earlier and I am still sitting on the carpet watching princess fancypants and prince awesome fight the evil monster Beiberfever. 

Almost everyone, at one time or another, decides they are "too cool" or "too mature"  to do things they once loved.  I can remember the sad look in my dad's eyes the day I asked him to drop me off a little bit farther away from school, so my friends wouldn't see me give him a hug and kiss goodbye.  (If you're wondering: he kindly obliged and I kept my honor intact.)  

When I stop and look around it seems like everyone, at least in my generation, is always changing, always adapting, always trying to grow up and get to where they think they should be.  We are perpetual self-proclaimed underachievers who can't seem to get where we need to be.  There is always more and there is always better. 

There’s a great quote by John Ortberg in one of his books where he talks about this “incurable itch.”  He says: “Everybody thinks he needs one thing to make himself rich: more.”

I think there are two reasons that we aren’t finding satisfaction.

1.      We’re looking in the wrong place.

2.      We’re looking for the wrong things.

This week instead of working more hours so you can afford to buy the golf clubs you have wanted for so long, you could take out your old beat up ones and watch your son/daughter/wife accidently put a golf ball through a basement window (if you’re lucky it be will the window of your neighbor’s house who is always complaining about your lawn).  At first it may not seem so great, but it will be a fantastic story next weekend.

Or maybe you could try turning of your cell phone and computer for a day and enjoy some peace and quiet with the people that love you most - sure you might miss a hilarious joke from @dscrabeck on twitter, but let's face it, he'll have another one on Monday.

Remember, joy doesn’t come with more, it comes when you learn to be thankful for what you have.