Surprise!

A few weeks ago I received the biggest surprise I’ve had in a long time. My friend and awesome next door neighbor from Illinois (where I moved from last September) showed up at my door in Maine. I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA that she was planning this and am still a bit in awe that it happened!I’ve only been completely surprised like this a handful of times, and this certainly goes down in the books as one of the best. It is something my friend and I will always remember and I’m sure my kids will talk about it for many, many years.What made it so meaningful is that it was an experience of pure joy. It was joyful not only for my family and I as the recipients but also for my friend and her friend who were the ones giving it.  In December, my family and I surprised some family members in Illinois by showing up earlier than they were expecting and I can attest to the fact that it’s just as much fun to truly surprise someone else as it is to be surprised.Simple and joy are concepts I think about daily in my own life and work. As I’ve experienced myself and witnessed with others, there is a correlation between simplifying your “stuff” and experiencing more joy and freedom in your life (which is the reason my company is named Simple Joy Living). Receiving this surprise, this gift of joy, further confirmed a few things for me.

• When you live intentionally and with purpose, you make spreading joy to others a priority.
• Giving joy to others can give you just as much joy in return. This article from Huffington Post and recently shared by Joshua Becker further supports this belief.
• When you live simply, without excess, you have more opportunities to share resources (and surprises) with others.
• When you take away all of the “things” that crowd your home and your life, you really start to notice the people in your home and your life. And it becomes easier to have fun with those people.
• It takes effort to live simply, but the benefits are more than you can ever imagine.

While my friend’s surprise wasn’t completely simple (flying on a plane, driving up the East Coast, finding our house and taking a chance that we’d actually be home), there are plenty of simple ways you can give the gift of joy to others.Here are a few:

1. Call an old friend out of the blue
2. Surprise someone with lunch or coffee
3. Spend time doing a puzzle with the residents at an assisted living facility
4. Bring someone flowers for no specific reason
5. Volunteer to serve a meal at a local shelter
6. Make someone cookies, cupcakes or their favorite sweet treat
7. Send a “just thinking of you” handwritten note via snail mail
8. Look a child in the eye and truly listen as they tell you an idea
9. Take blankets and supplies to a local animal shelter
10. Try a new hobby with a friend

Start small. But if you have the means to fly across the country and knock on the door of someone you love that you haven’t seen in a while, I HIGHLY recommend you give it some thought. The joy experienced when that door opens will never be forgotten.Wishing you simplicity and joy,Lisa