Are You Missing an Ingredient in Your Recipe?
Have you ever made a casserole or other dish that seemed it was missing an ingredient? It might have been bland or just didn’t quite have that savory taste you were looking for when you ate it. You may have thought you wanted to throw that recipe out. Or maybe you went back to the recipe to figure out what was missing so you could improve on it the next time.
I’ve had reason to think recently about missing ingredients in people’s lives. The issue came up with a friend of mine when we were talking about some situations with people we care about.
Both of us have family, friends and business acquaintances that are extremely wealthy.
For many of them there are spacious homes decorated with amazing furnishings and works of art, sports cars, season tickets to sports events in the finest seats, an impressive stock portfolio, boats, designer clothing, second homes in the mountains or at the beach…the list goes on.
We take pleasure in hearing and seeing these people enjoying their good fortune. Many have worked extremely hard and sacrificed much to get to where they are today. We both are in awe of that. When we find ourselves involved with them on occasion, we are honored to be part of their good fortune as well.
On the outside looking in, most of the people look like they have a picture perfect life.
Who wouldn’t want to be in their shoes?
As you look closer, though, there are some of these folks who are missing an ingredient in their lives – just like that recipe I mentioned earlier.
Since all of us likely had this ingredient as children, I prefer to say it is just missing.
What is it, you say?
Joy.
In today’s world, some people are always striving to acquire more things. The more they get, the “happier†they are. For some of them we see they have many “surface†relationships but few – if any – are genuinely deep and loving relationships. Often, they only surround themselves with people who have as much or more than they do. Many times we can see negative and demeaning attitudes coming from these people regularly.
If you look closely, you can see it in their eyes and hear it in their spirit.
If you can get them to talk with you, it is often obvious that your not valuing the same things they do makes them very uncomfortable. Getting “too close†is taboo for them. They may avoid you or will only interact with you through their power base.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are many wealthy people who are kind, do good with their time and money, and who make a real difference in their communities as well as the world. We all should be grateful for those who share their wealth with the world to do good. For them, I often will see a joy that’s indescribable.
Are you one of those who has everything but lacks that missing ingredient of joy in your life?
No matter where we are financially, if we lack joy we are missing something.
The good thing about a missing ingredient is that you can always go back and see what was missing last time, correct the recipe and make it better in the future.
Same thing with joy.
If you’re not happy with your life and are missing joy in it, here are some things to consider tapping as resources:
~ volunteer
~ seek out spiritual leaders and find out what they have to say
~ask someone who seems less fortunate than you to tell you their story – appreciate them and their struggles
~ give some of your good fortune away to help others in need
~ do a little survey – ask as many people as you can what gives them joy in their lives – write it down, reflect on their thoughts
~trade places with someone who makes considerably less than you do for a day or so and see what it’s like to do their job
My wish for you today is that you rediscover true joy in life. If you have it, embrace it and use it to do good. If you don’t have it, make a commitment to yourself to seek it out. It may be a missing ingredient in your life right now, but it’s never too late to find out what is missing, make the change, and try it again. You might just find that – with the rediscovery of joy – it will become your favorite ingredient of life!
~ Joellen