Wearing JOY

The other day, as I headed out the door to do errands, I put on my bright yellow goose-down vest.  It was just right for the day.  One of my first stops was Target.  There's a Starbuck's inside the front of this particular store, and windows look out towards the parking lot.  As I walked up to the store, I noticed two women sitting in the Starbucks, and, well... you know how it feels when you think someone is talking about you?  It felt kind of awkward, because they were both staring directly at me with big smiles on their faces.  I was dying to check my pants to see if I had forgotten to zip or something.... and then, I remembered what jacket I had worn.

The yellow one.

I picked it years ago.  My mom asked what my hubby and I wanted for Christmas, and I told her vests.  My hubby picked navy, and I wanted yellow.  It was so cheerful, and such a surprise -- I just couldn't resist!  It screamed happiness and JOY to me, long before I had really even given much thought to living JOYfully.

As the realization hit me, I relaxed because... this actually happens a lot to me when I wear my vest.  When I WEAR JOY, people notice.

And that's not why I chose it,

but,

on the other hand... why not be a poster-child for JOY?  Not just when I'm dressed in sunshine-yellow and feeling good, but always.  Because it doesn't really matter what I'm wearing.  There are always people watching, and I have much to be JOYful about.

As I got closer to the storefront, I looked intentionally towards those women... and smiled... JOYfully.