𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲... 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘁... 𝗼𝗿 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵... 𝗼𝗿 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀.
Same goes for this moment of writing to you. If I'm clenched up "trying to write" there's no smile. Pause and unclench... my tolerance for a soft smile rises.
Tolerance? Yes. Tolerance. It's a range. How cold a shower can you tolerate? How hot a bath can you tolerate? There are physical limits (too hot and we damage our skin; too cold and we lose too much body heat). Sure, AND there are emotional limits. If I despise cold showers, I'll clench up as I feel the water: "TOO COLD!!"
Same goes with kids laughing — shouting with robust aliveness. TOO MUCH!! We grip and tense when things are too... anything. Even joy.
We also brace when we just "know" the other shoe is going to drop... on our foot, on our joy.
Can we do anything about this? Absolutely. People can condition themselves to be resilient with intention and practice. If they want to. If it matters to them.
If experiencing more Joy is something you'd like, building your tolerance for its edges is a real skill. We'll be "going there" on Sunday and we invite you to join us!
We’d love to have you join us.