Wonder-Full Joy

Erika Petrelli
Erika Petrelli

Wonder-full

young woman jogging in city park at early morning

 

I’m still thinking about wonder, because May is coming! May. Oh May. How do I love thee? In addition to spring fully blooming during this beautiful month, which I love, and the sound of lawn mowers firing up and the smell of spring rain, which I love, and the sight of plants being hung from front porches and windows staying open, which I love, May brings an extra level of… extra around these parts. In my family, we have a LOT to look forward to every May. This May’s lineup includes:

  • One May Day.
  • One trip to New York City.
  • One week of Teacher Appreciation.
  • One visitor from California.
  • One Half Marathon.
  • Two VERY SPECIAL birthdays.
  • Three anniversaries.
  • One Rookie Run.
  • One Mother’s Day.
  • One 8th grade graduation.
  • One Race Day.
  • One unofficial kickoff to Summer.
  • Four Soccer games.
  • One pool opening.
  • One last day of school.

I could just approach the month as a chock-full series of things to be checked off. To show up for everything with the obligatory gift bag, ready to engage in the expected social niceties. That would be cool. And then before I knew it, it would be June… then July… and on it goes. Life goes by in a blink and a blur, marked by occasions and events and obligations. So I could easily allow myself to get swept away in the frenzy, without really noticing.

Or.

Instead I could remember about wonder.  I could stop and say wow. I mean, just looking at that list makes me giddy. There are soooo many opportunities this month to look for, and discover, wonder. Even better, to create wonder-full moments. To find all the “extra” contained within the daily ordinary. To celebrate, with gratitude, life and all its delicious invitations to show up.  I’m so grateful for this list of opportunities

And as Brother David Steindl-Rast said “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it’s gratitude that makes us joyful.”

Yes, May will be joyful, and wonder-full, indeed.

Now, your May lineup might not look so occasion-filled as mine, although we share at least a few of those occasions. But your May does have 31 days. Just like mine. What will you do with them?

How can you create for yourself a wonder-full May?

 

Wings & Whimsy Challenge: Awaken

Challenge: How can you make May wonder-FULL? Tell me
about it in the comments below, or tweet it to
me @ErikaPetrelli1

Erika-Brand

Want to buy the interactive journal, On Wings & Whimsy, available now on Amazon? Simply follow this link!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1941916104/#

Interested in having Erika’s blog come directly to your e-mail each Tuesday? Have comments to share?  E-mail her at erika@tlpnyc.com.
Find all her previous blog posts at www.tlpnyc.com/author/erika

“Wonder-full Joy”, The Leadership Program, 2017

Subscribe
Erika Petrelli

By Erika Petrelli

Erika Petrelli is the Senior Vice President of Leadership Development (and self-declared Minister of Mischief) for The Leadership Program, a New York City-based organization. With a Masters degree in Secondary Education, Erika has been in the field of teaching and training for decades, and has been with The Leadership Program since 1999. There she has the opportunity to nurture the individual leadership spirit in both students and adults across the country, through training, coaching, keynotes, and writing. The legacy Erika strives daily to create is to be the runway upon which others take flight. If you enjoy these blogs, you should check out her interactive journal, On Wings & Whimsy: Finding the Extraordinary Within the Ordinary, now available for sale on Amazon. While her work takes her all around the country, Erika calls Indiana home.