New Years Eve MorningThoughts on Joy

Yesterday I was kissed by a stranger in the line at the grocery store.  I liked it.  The feeling is one I want to keep close to me always and is described simply in my Word for 2012:  Joy. 

Here is how it happened.  I was loading my holiday weekend feast on the conveyer while the fella ahead of me struggled to pay for his items.  I noticed him first because he was very thin.  Tall and thin and his hair and beard wanted trimming a long time back.  I noticed that although his pile was not large it contained some special stuff...goodies which he appeared he could really use. (yes I am a grocery line peeper)  He had run his card but the reader was declining his PIN#.  He got more and more flustered by the minute trying to call up the numbers.  The girl was sweet and didn't try to hurry the fella but the line behind me was starting to shift and grumble impatiently.  Finally he just threw up his hands and said he would have to come back when he could remember.  All this while I was just barely watching thinking I needed to get my shopping trip done so I could get back to work. But I have felt that panicky blankness when your mind refuses to call up the word or name or number and I found myself saying:  Oh no, I'll get that for you.  That's how I got my kiss!  That man just bent down and kissed me on the face.  I liked that so I hugged him back as hard as I thought he could bear.  He offered to write a check and I told him no and Happy New Year and off he went happy and relieved, with his big old apple pie and other treats! 

I paid for mine and took myself home to unload and get back to work.  But inside I was happy.  Joy-filled.  That I could help somebody and share some of the sparkle of the season, for one thing.  But I felt good about me.  Selfishly, I was just overjoyed that I did a nice thing and I got kissed for it!  Friday is GOOD without embellishment but the extra happiness of that exchange in the grocery store made it almost unbearably good!  I highly recommend this path to joy.  Giving, just 'cause you get a chance to. The feeling is still with me and has been built upon by the happy moments since.  Watching the stars from my patio last night and waking up early this morning to watch the day start with my good cup of coffee in the company of my Christmas Tree (still lovely and fragrant even though it stopped "drinking" the second day we had it! Magic!) and Bear, the nicest dog in the World...Listening to random tunes on my Bose Ipod dock (yes Virginia!  There is a Santa Claus..) and

THEN coming here to post my Thoughts on Joy, the Word for 2012 and stopping in for a peek at Connie's Loose Lemons blog only to find that my Nia Sister By a Different Momma is again in sync with me having written on her own Word for 2012: Exploration.  :) :) :)  I look forward to sharing words with you this year, friend!  I'm looking forward to exploring all the flavors of Joy I can find!  And sharing some of the exploring with my wonderful friends and family and friends-to-be! 

Andiamo! Belle 2012!  (ok, my Italian needs lots more work!)  Happy New Year!  Joy to the World!  May your heart be over-filled with Joy, Peace and Light this whole year long and always!