If you saw someone running in the dark last night, it was probably me or someone like me. After all of the presents were unwrapped, dinner and dessert ravished, and time with loved ones was just so wonderful, I couldn’t but help myself than to sneak away in silence for a hour. Sometimes I find that the best way to harness overwhelming joy is through movement, and that is exactly what I did last night.
Jogging on Christmas night is magical. There was a peaceful joy that actually compounded itself upon any internal joy that I was already feeling. Add to that the great pleasure of moving one’s body, the clear starlit night, plus the miles upon miles of glowing and lovingly decorated houses, and you can understand how my Christmas night run ranks among the best of runs that I have ever had the opportunity to experience.
The combination of my own oozing joy, plus listening to Christmas music on Pandora whilst I ran, and the voyeuristic view through the windows of hundreds of happy families that I got to see while running made me feel like I was jogging through a vintage Christmas postcard. It was beautiful, in the purest and most traditional way.
Listen to your body and your heart when you feel joy. Find a way to compound and experience it at a deeper level so that you can harness more of it into your life. For me, I feel most alive when my body is moving, for you it might be something else, but one thing I know for sure is that the more we dwell and cherish the joys of life that we have been given, the more joy that will our lives. When you feel joie de vivre, or joy of living, do something with it.