Are You Missing the Joy Right in Front of You? | Joy Camp Summer Part 2

Today we're going to talk about what has happened to my joy.

Why do I feel less joyful?

Or why do I feel joyful less of the time?

Maybe less excited for life?

Maybe I just feel worn down and tired and worn out, and I don't notice a lot of joy in my life.

We're going to dig into that today and what might be really going on here.

Welcome to Faith Filled Living, the podcast for women who want to find joy again, grow closer to God, and rediscover the woman he created you to be.

I'm your host, Kristin Fritch.

Each week you'll find a encouragement, honest conversations, biblical perspective, and practical tools to help you experience more joy, purpose, and peace in everyday life.

Because the woman God created you to be is still there.

And it's never too late to come alive to the life he created you to live.

Hey, friends, I'm so glad that you've joined me here today.

And if you haven't already heard, this summer, I'm inviting you to Joy Camp Summer.

It is basically a joy movement where where we are going to walk together to experience more joy in our lives.

Each week, I'll share a podcast episode that'll help you just ask a question and take a simple action in your life to really bring forth more joy.

And each week, I'll send out an email with the same concept and it will also give you an action step and an idea to help you invite in and find more joy.

Because God wants us to live in these rhythms of simplicity and joy and delight and, yes, you know, spending time in his presence.

But when we do those things, we will experience joy overflowing, regardless of what circumstances are surrounding us.

Because that is actually how God designed us.

The things he tells us to do are actually gifts.

They help keep guide rails, if you will, around our lives that help us live in a way that's sustainable, unlike what culture or society tells us, which is so unsustainable to hustle and move and be so busy.

The reason we can end up exhausted is because we're trying to do more in a day than God's ever asked us to do.

So, friends, welcome to joycamp Summer.

This is part two, and I cannot wait to dive in.

But if you haven't already, go join my email community, because you won't get those emails unless you have joined my my email list.

So go to KristinFitch.com joy and then you can get the first part of the Joy Camp series.

And I would love for you to be a part of our Broader community.

All right, let's jump into today's episode.

So you might find yourself asking, where did my joy go?

But here's the honest truth.

You didn't lose your joy.

It may be that you've stopped noticing joy or that you've just not been fully present in the moments.

You've not been fully present because you're so focused on all the things you have to get done later today and all the places you have to get to and all the things you have to get done and the laundry.

And you're focused on what has to get done tomorrow, what you didn't finish today.

You're focused on the vacation if you're fortunate to take one that you have in a month or two coming up or you're worried about the bills.

So when we aren't present, it's very hard to experience joy because we're focused on the future or the past.

So today we're going to talk about how do we actually become more present in our lives and then how do we notice the things that are going to actually bring forth more joy within us and, you know, in our lives.

Before we dig into this episode, I did want to invite you to join my.

My bigger community.

And you can do that by joining my email list.

I send regular emails a couple times a month, and during the summer, I'm sending a JoyCamp summer email each week that will just reinforce some of the things I talked about either in this week or next week's episodes about Joy Camp and how can you experience more joy in your life?

So head over to kristinfitch.com joy and you can join this summer's Joy Camp summer.

Also, on my website, I have a workbooks page.

I have lots of free downloads.

You can go grab one there as well and get that today.

So I can't wait for you to join me there.

All right, so let's dive into today's episode.

So in order to live a life lived well, in order to experience more joy, there's two things we're going to primarily talk about today.

One is how can we be more present in our lives?

And then we're going to talk about are we actually noticing?

Are we participating in our life?

Are we letting it go by?

So the first thing about being present, I think it's, are we slowing down throughout the day?

Are we pausing throughout the day to actually know what's to participate in, what is going on?

And what I mean by that is, look, I have three sons, and yes, they're older now.

Even though they're all at home.

But I remember having a baby on one hip, making dinner, answering a question, the kids doing their homework, right?

Like, we can multitask.

Most of us like the best of them.

But was I fully present in those moments or was I just getting by?

And look, there are going to be times and days where we feel like.

And maybe we are just getting by.

But what I'm saying is, are there things in your day that could be paused that you could do later that could wait another day?

For instance, does your floor need to be vacuumed today?

Could it wait till tomorrow?

Or later?

Could you batch those things so that when your spouse or your child comes in, you can have one on one time, even if it's for just 15 minutes with them.

Being more present is going to bring forth more joy because we're going to be more connected to people.

We're going to be more connected to who's around us, what opportunities around us.

And by opportunity, I mean where can we love on people?

Where can we serve people?

Where can we show kindness?

Where can we connect with people?

Where can we make memories?

Because the thing about life is none of it's guaranteed, right?

Like beyond this moment, beyond this present moment, nothing is guaranteed.

So we do not want to stay stuck thinking about the past all the time or always thinking about the future moment or the future, you know, the evening or tomorrow or next month or, you know, some plans we have next year.

We want to make plans.

I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is don't let it take over your thoughts so that you're not actually present with the person or the experience that you're participating in or you should be participating in.

And I want to be really clear.

Our digital devices and our streaming services, and don't get me wrong, I use them too.

They are sucking joy out of our lives for so many reasons.

I won't get into all of them now, but one of them is because we think we can be looking at our phone and still be connected to the person across the table from us or on the sofa.

But guys, the data's in.

It is making us more disconnected and to feel less satisfied in our relationship, whatever relationship is, it could be a friendship.

It could be your spouse or your boyfriend, girlfriend, it could be with your kids.

And I've told my husband this, and I'm not saying I've never been guilty of it, but he will be on his phone because he says, well, I've been working all day and then I, I'm just kind of like catching up on things.

And I get that.

But then tell me that, right?

Like say, hey, I need 15 minutes.

I, like, want to catch up on everything, you know, the news, social, whatever he wants to do, email.

But I'll be talking.

He'll say, I'm listening, but he's staring at his phone.

Well, first of all, to me that feels like it's disrespectful, I think.

I feel like I don't have his full attention.

He doesn't see it that way.

But the data's in and it says we're not going to be as connected.

Right?

And so that's just one example that we're not being fully present.

If we're trying to check our email and we're also having a conversation with our spouse, like, it's not happening.

We need to, like, do the one thing and make it clear, hey, I need to go check my email.

And then I'll be, then I'll be fully present with you.

Like, then I can participate in the conversation.

So that's one thing is, are we slowing down?

Are we pausing?

Are we being present in this moment and then are we participating actively in our lives and are we picking the best thing that we should be a part of right now?

What do I mean by that?

Maybe your kids are like, getting a stir crazy during when you would be making dinner.

Well, yes, sometimes we're going to have to make the dinner and maybe it's more involved.

Other times, maybe we have to pick a simplified version of something or just throw something in the toaster oven and grab some fresh fruit and vegetables.

But go do the fun thing with your kids.

Go out back and do a scavenger hunt.

Take the bike ride with your spouse.

Like, these things don't take a long time, but you're making memories.

There's probably going to be laughter.

You're going to be expressive and creative and you're connecting with someone else.

Take time to slow down and get outside.

Of course, get in the presence of God, which, that takes slowing down and it takes quiet, right?

And even if you live in a busy house and if your kids are younger than mine or you just have a job, like maybe you're working the er.

Well, just take those moments, even if they're few and far between, get outside, take a walk.

Those are enough moments to get in the presence of God.

Those are enough moments to hear yourself think, okay, another question you might want to ask yourself is, are you building a life one day at a Time with intention, or is life just happening to you?

And by that I mean, I get it.

We're going to go through busy seasons.

You know, we're going to have lots of things on our list.

And God designed us to have some busyness, but he didn't design our days to be overwhelming necessarily.

And so, once again, are you penciling in time for the people you care about?

Are you prioritizing that?

Are you prioritizing time for your faith?

Are you prioritizing time to connect with yourself?

And what do I mean by that?

Like, what do you enjoy doing?

Or, you know, even if you don't even know what you're doing, if you like, you cook dinner, okay?

Can you be creative?

Add an edible flower to the dish or try something new?

Buy fresh flowers yourself and put them in your house.

It's.

That might not seem that creative or expressive, but it is.

And it will lift your mood, brighten your day.

Go doodle, right?

Just doodle.

Even if you don't think you're good at drawing, I promise you, it's very cathartic.

The next thing is stop chasing perfect, right?

We want to be present in the realness of life, and the realness of life is not perfect.

It doesn't mean that we don't want to put together a nice dinner sometimes or we don't want to do great work at whatever job or career we have.

But we do want to stop chasing people.

Pleasing and perfection, because that will always hold us back from experiencing more joy in our life, right?

And more peace, too.

But that takes time, right?

That is a process.

If we find ourselves having those patterns, it's going to take time to do less of that.

But just, you know, keep trying to.

And then stop waiting to live your life.

Here's something that I've learned in both in my own life, because of people I care about that have gone on, that have passed, and so many people have interviewed that have lost someone that they love.

One woman, she had just taken an anniversary.

I'm sorry, a birthday trip.

Her husband and her went to, I think Paris.

And they could have postponed the trip, right?

They had young children and work was busy for both of them, but they didn't.

Well, unexpectedly, he passed, I think a week, maybe a week or a week and a half.

I can't remember the exact date after he got back.

They were young.

They were like 40.

He had no known health conditions prior to that.

So what I'm telling you is we don't know when the memory we're making, we're going to have an opportunity to do that again.

And I'm not saying that means because someone's going to pass.

What I mean is, when are you going to be to see that sunset again?

When are you going to taste that exact meal?

When are things going to line up exactly as they are today?

We will never recreate the same night or the same moment or the same conversation exactly.

Because we're never the same person that we are in this moment.

Because from that moment forward, new things happen, new experiences, new inputs.

So let's stop waiting to live our lives till one day.

Let's live them now.

Don't put your dreams on hold.

Don't put your passions on hold.

If there's something you used to love doing, try doing it again, even if it's in small increments.

Tell the people you love that you love them.

Connect with people.

Yes, it can be hard to have adult friendships, guys, I get that.

But I work really hard to have adult friendships and to be there for people and to host people and to invite them in.

And let me tell you, it's worth every single minute of my time.

But we have to start being intentional with our, how we're living.

And when we do that, we will have more joy.

And then the next thing is, are you paying attention to your life and what's around you?

And this is the idea of noticing.

I love this quote by Rainier Wilde.

He says, holiness does not hide itself.

It waits for your attention.

How true is that?

And when we say holiness, whether you mean that in a godly way or a sacred way, or just the gift of every moment, right?

The gift of everything you get to experience.

The gift of flowers that are growing in my yard.

The gift of all the vegetables and herbs in my, my raised garden beds.

Like the gift of my husband coming home and giving me a hug.

The gift of my children's children who are now college age and just beyond coming and asking advice on a job interview, right?

So all of these are so holy because they're special moments.

So, you know, that's what we're talking about.

Like, are you, what are you noticing?

And what I do know is the more that you are grateful for the moments, the more you're grateful for everything in your life.

The little things like the beautiful.

I have some flowers on my desk right now and they're, they're like a hot pink.

No, they're like a, a medium pink with the hot pink center.

They're so beautiful.

And just looking at them makes me grateful.

But that is what I'm talking about.

And actually Mary Davis, I think she's a writer or poet.

She said some things I shared in this week's email.

But one of the things she said was about gratitude that I really liked.

She says, the more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.

And I have to tell you, that is exactly how I feel.

I've shared this before, but I have a micro gratitude practice, which just means that throughout the day I'm looking the things I'm grateful for.

And here's the thing, it's true.

The more you stay in a grateful state, the more you start noticing the way your child's smiling, the thing that you asked them about that happened that day or in school or the thing you asked your spouse about that they've been working so hard on.

And you see like them just light up a little bit.

Bringing flowers to a friend, just being there for somebody.

Like you're bringing joy.

Or maybe it's not joy.

Sometimes it's you're showing them love or kindness.

You're showing them that you're doing life with them.

But all of this starts leading to more peace and more joy in your life.

And I love There's a photographer I follow online and I can't remember her last name, but her account that is the Krista K. And one of the actions I want you to take this week is around gratitude.

But instead of writing down gratitude, which I even noted that in my weekly email, but I want to challenge you to use your phone or a camera to take pictures of things you notice this week.

So Krista K. Says your camera is your best tool for practicing gratitude.

So I'm saying to you, use your phone and take photos of things you notice today and each day this week, things you notice that bring you joy, things you notice that make you smile, things that you want to remember, the moments you want to remember, an activity that you do, a cool sign, pretty flowers on the side of the road are in your yard.

I take so many photos of my garden it's ridiculous.

But here's the thing.

She also says life feels fuller when you notice all the things in the world that deserve to be photographed.

But when we start paying attention, when we start noticing the things around us, when we start noticing the people in line at the grocery store and when we actually stripe strike up a conversation, when we help the person in need in the neighborhood, when we talk to the person having a hard time walking in our neighborhood, but they're still going out and doing it, even with A, you know, mobility device like that is bringing joy.

It's bringing us together.

And that is how God designed us.

He designed us to be connected to Him.

He designed us to be connected to each other and so many layers and levels.

And he designed us to be connected to ourselves with what we.

With what we love, with what we enjoy, what breaks our heart.

He designed us to serve the world and to partner with him, right, to be an extension of his love, an extension of the things that we can do for other people in their lives.

And so the way we tap into more joy is by being present, being intentional, and by noticing and paying attention to what's happening within us, around us, and that we can participate in.

And so really it comes back down to are we being intentional?

Are we letting life happen?

Are we saying yes by continuing on patterns that are exhausting us?

Or are we saying, how else could I do this that would allow me to have more moments and memories and connections with people?

How could I do this different?

So that my days felt more joyful and more peaceful and less hectic and just harried?

And so this is what I wanted to share with you today.

I did want to share an example with you.

This past Thursday, my.

One of our nieces asked us if we could watch their kids on Saturday night.

Well, we had already had plans.

Actually, we had two potential plans, but by Saturday, I guess midday, both plans had gotten canceled.

So, of course, one, I didn't know if she had found her.

Found a sitter.

And two, I hadn't gotten talked to my husband yet to say, well, now that it's already Saturday, do we, you know, do we want to see if she's found a sitter or just.

I'd already told her we'd just find another date later in the summer to watch the kids.

She has three kids, about 4 to 9 years old.

So anyways, when I finally got to talk to him, it was 3 o'.

Clock.

So I texted her and asked, like, did she find somebody to watch the kids?

And she hadn't.

And so I said, okay, well, we could have made other plans, but if you still want to and if you still have something to do, then, you know, bring the kids over and they can spend the night.

But I share all that just to say, of course I was thinking, oh, gosh, like my niece's kids or my great, I guess, great nieces and nephew, they're lovely, wonderful, very well behaved kids, but they haven't spent the night here before.

And so, of course, I was partly thinking like, oh, gosh, okay, I'm sure this is gonna be fine.

But, like, how involved will it be?

Or not.

And whatever it was would be fine, but it was actually just wonderful.

Like, they had a great time.

We did lots of fun things, and there was so much joy, right?

I had.

I enjoyed it.

My husband enjoyed it.

The kids had a wonderful time.

We did fun, different activities.

But my point is, I could have not done that Saturday, right?

And we could have done another date in the future.

But by saying yes and helping our niece, it brought joy into our lives and into my great niece and nephew's life.

So sometimes just saying yes or, like, doing the extra work will bring forth just these times that you get to enjoy people, you get to enjoy the experience.

All right, I want to share a scripture with you about joy.

Actually, two.

In your presence, there is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

But once again, the Bible is, like I said, it's kind of like our.

Our guide.

It's our rail post or guidepost guard.

I guess guardrails is what I'm trying to say.

But God wants for us, when we're in his presence, when we seek him, first we find, and we are filled with the fruit of the Spirit, which.

One of which is the fullness of joy.

Right?

But he says, you make known to me the path of life.

He tells us how we can live.

But the reason he tells us that is because we will actually have a richer, fuller life with purpose and meaning and deeper connections when we understand what the Bible's telling us.

And then at your right hand are for pleasures forevermore.

Yes.

This doesn't mean we're not talking about pleasures that are just, like, self indulgent.

We're talking about living in a way when it's aligned and when we know who God is and who he thinks or who he says we are, we experience more, right?

Just a deeper way of living.

And it's just.

It's beautiful.

Like I said, it doesn't mean it's without difficulties or sadness or hard things.

But in the midst of all that, when we do life with other people, when we do life with God, there is still beauty and joy and things to appreciate through all of it.

And that's what I'm talking about.

Okay?

And then it says, restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

And the last one, I'll Share it now is, let's see.

For you have been my help and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

My soul clings to you.

Your right hand upholds me.

But joy is mentioned the Bible a ton of times, or rejoicing, you know, or a related word.

And, you know, basically, as I've already talked about today, we can have more joy when we get in God's presence, when we are present in our lives, when we notice and when we're grateful.

And so these are some of the early steps to start experiencing more joy in your own life.

And this summer, I hope that you'll slow down.

I hope that you'll start noticing what you already have to be grateful for or what's already in the world to be grateful for, right?

Like the sunsets, the flowers, the delicious meal you just ate, things like that.

And as I mentioned, the action step or the thing that you can do this week to try to tap more into being present and noticing the things in your life that you appreciate or that bring you comfort or that you enjoy is taking photos of those things, right?

So notice the things around you.

Notice the things you're.

So that just fill you up, right?

It can be your family, it can be your pet, it can be so many things.

But just start taking pictures of them.

Because first of all, taking a photo of something means that you're being present enough to notice the feeling you're having and then that you're going to capture that moment or that memory that.

So you can go back and look at it.

But it also makes you, it makes you more aware because you have to stop whatever you're doing and open your phone or turn on the camera and take a photo or take a couple photos.

And so I think it's a really good practice to get in the habit of if you're not someone that takes pictures.

Now, if you're like me, I love taking pictures.

So I'm always taking pictures.

But it's still, it's, it does something right when you take that picture because you're looking through a lens and you're noticing things that you might not notice if you weren't trying to line up a shot or take a picture of someone's face or their smile or their hug or the meal you just made or whatever it might be.

So for this week, that is how I want to encourage you.

And I just want to encourage you, like, let down your hair, try to relax at some point and do something different, because I shared in the first part of this series.

But it's when we get out of our comfort zone that amazing things happen.

We can partner with God more and we get out of our comfort zone.

We find more joy.

We find more enjoyment in life because we actually step beyond our worry or our fear or what people might think.

And we do something.

Whether it's going towards an opportunity or whether you're like, I want to learn how to dance or do this certain thing, but I've been, I felt embarrassed to go and try and do it because what if I look silly?

When you step through that on the other side of it, you will be giddy or excited or you'll be so glad you tried.

And God wants that for us.

He calls us into a life of adventure.

He calls us into a life that doesn't look the same every day.

But we have to be willing to move forward.

We have to be willing to say yes.

And this is how we start tapping into more joy in our lives.

We don't just settle for the same thing every single day.

We talk to new people or we do something new with our family or we try something new with a girlfriend.

And so I'm just inviting you into more joy this week and I would love to hear from you.

Reach out.

You can email me@kristinristenfitch.com I'd love to hear something that brought you joy this week or something you did in your life to be more present and notice all the things you have to be grateful for all around you.

Until next week, Have a wonderful week.

As I said, if you haven't already joined my larger community, head over to KristinFitch.com and you can grab one of my free workbooks.

I have a ton.

I have a Joyful Living Devotional.

I have a Reignite your passion workbook.

I have a rewire your mind really simple steps to how to help you do that.

Or you can grab or you can join my Joy camp summer.

Just go to KristinFitch.com joy but I would love to encourage you in your inbox as well.

And I love hearing from you.

So don't forget, reach out and drop me an email if you enjoyed today's episode.

If you could leave a rating review on Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts, it helps the show get discovered by more people so that we can continue to uplift and encourage people in their faith journey as well as all of the other parts of their lives.