As I was walking home from work yesterday, I saw teenage twin sisters hanging upside down from a set of monkey bars playing patty cake. Their red haired ponytails where swinging in the wind and you couldn't help but share in their joyous smiles as you walked by. When I was walking by, a couple also passed on my laugh. We all looked at each other like we were sharing this moment of silliness and we would be embarrassed if our friends caught us taking pleasure in this.
Moments like this seem so contrived. Not the shared experience, but it was intentional silliness that was off the cuff. More often than not, I still derive a lot of pleasure from them. I begin to think if something about it was artificial or wrong. And then I thought some more.. and decided that part of intentional living is finding and engaging in activities that you find joy in. The beginning moments are contrived at times, but that doesn't detract from the actual joy that life brings you. There are moments when you have to put effort into performing actions that will illicit a response of happiness. Moments like this can happen spontaneously, but not always.
You can take the steps to live in intentional happiness, and that joy is real.
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