05/31/2026
About a year ago, my wife walked into my office, practically buzzing. She had just gotten her final mark back from one of her university classes: an A+. Not only that, but her professor mentioned it was the first A+ he’d ever given after more than 20 years of teaching.
She told me the news with that sort of stunned joy that only comes when you didn’t expect to hear what you just heard. I just sat there, letting it land—not just proud, though I was—but full of gratitude. Gratitude for who she is. For her innocent brilliance. For the hours she’s poured into learning. And for the quiet honor of having a front-row seat to her story.
And that’s when joy arrived.
Not the big, celebratory kind. But the kind that slips into the room quietly, wraps around you, and says, You’re witnessing something beautiful. Don’t miss it.
Because that’s how joy works. It came, not because I’d aimed for joy—but because I was paying attention to something beautiful happening right in front of me. Because I’d paused long enough to admire her, to appreciate her.
Joy didn’t need to be summoned. It just needed space.
Joy doesn’t come because we chase it. It comes because we pause. It rises when we stop long enough to notice what we still have, to name what we’re thankful for, and to spot and call out the good that’s already here.
And that—always—is where joy begins.
Regards, Jonathan
https://www.newsletter.lifeapp.ca/p/want-more-joy-spot-whats-right-test
