270 – Are You Enjoying Yourself?

#faithbites #faithjourney Enjoying

“Are You Enjoying Yourself”? That was the question one of my advisors for my EdD asked me yesterday. I was meeting with two of them to discuss my dissertation, project, and life in general. When she said that, I asked: “Do you mean the dissertation or work”? She responded that she was talking about working on the dissertation. It took me a while to think about that. While much of it has been stressful and time-consuming, there have been times when I feel more connected to the literature and feel that I am making an impact. Until that moment, I never thought about “enjoying” my dissertation.

As I was walking to my car after that meeting, that questions stayed in my mind: “Are you Enjoying Yourself”? The question started taking on a life of its own. What should I be enjoying? What am I doing just to do it? How should I live my life. We have talked many times about just checking off boxes or being too busy in life. This question was different. I can do many things with all my energy and not enjoy it. I hope to be someone who is enjoying everything but I know that there are times in life when things are just hard.

How do we make sure we are enjoying life?

Scripture on Enjoying Life

• Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. – Ecclesiastes 5:18
• Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. – Ecclesiastes 11:9
• I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
• And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior – Luke 1:47

Reflection

Life is amazing. We are so blessed to be in His presence and in his grace. We do have tribulation, sometimes seemingly more than we can handle. But as the Gospel says, “I have overcome the World”. We don’t need to live in despair or anguish. We can enjoy the life God has given us. The two Ecclesiastes selections (I really dig that book) show us how we are to live with what God has provided us and find joy, and cheer. We are to “find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun”.

I get that this is hard. The world is pretty messed up right now. Social media is a nightmare. The news is almost always scary and getting weirder by the day. But our hearts can rejoice in the Lord and find moments to enjoy His creation.

I like to take a line from Office Space and tweak it a bit “I can’t say I’m enjoying my Dissertation, Bob”. Sorry, had to do it. But as I get closer and talk to others about it, I am seeing the end result. Likewise, we all have those moments we can dig in and say “Yes, I truly enjoyed that”.

Charge

Are you enjoying life? How do you show it? How do you know it? Think about ways that you can take a minute and smell the roses. Is there something you can do at the end of the day to look back and find one thing that was good. Enjoy those moments. Know that while life is hard, there are so many wonderful moments. You just have to be open to them.

Lord, help me to enjoy my life. Give me the strength to overcome obstacles and grant me vision to know when those enjoyable moments are happening.