I’ve got the joy moments…

You’ve had them before, I am sure of it.
It’s when the washing machine is doing that strange watch-the-machine thing (see below post) and knocks over an entire gallon of new concentrate liquid wash detergent. Of course the detergent lid was not screwed on tight and over ¾th of the contents spills on the floor.

It’s when you are hard pressed for time and are baking a batch of cookies and a new 5 lb bag of flour falls down rips and scatters everywhere, making everything, including those nice pants, look like a holiday picture of freshly fallen snow.

It’s when the plumbing backs up and overflows to every nook and cranny in the room.

During such times as these there are two ways to react. One way is to lose all control. What is meant by losing all control? Well, it can include outbursts of various varieties. The more extroverted type include hitting things, throwing things, or just having a plain moldy attitude, which includes grabbing and glaring at the nearest friend or family member in sight, even though they had nothing to do with it. The more introverted variety is slinking into stony silence and letting the frustration build up into one massive, exploding, scary inward volcano.

The other way to react is to go along with the “I’ve got the joy” moment. This is often the preferred reaction for nearby individuals and appliances. The detergent has spilled, the flour has fallen, and the plumbing has overflowed. No amount of anything will change the situation. So you try at best to embrace it positively.

For the huge puddle of dish detergent, I guess you could say I got a little carried away with the “I’ve got the joy” attitude and allowed the pendulum to swing too far in the other direction. I didn’t know what to do in that situation. Any water or attempt to scrub would make a ton of bubbles and a bigger and multiplied state of affairs. So I did the only and first impulsive thing that came to mind, the flip flops went off and I started sliding across the floor trying, desperately trying, to have fun in such an unwelcomed predicament. At that moment, chemical burns did not even cross my mind.

Usually though in most other "I’ve got the joy moments" instead of impulsive crazy actions, a song comes to mind …
“I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart.
I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart to stay…
and I’m so happy, so very happy…."

Singing the song over and over and over until the situation is cleaned up or improves does seem to help the overall outlook.
I mean, God does promise us His joy in our hearts so He can give it to us when things are going crazy right?

So now you know what an “I’ve got the joy” moment is… and about the detergent spill? Fortunately, I have a nice dad who cleaned up the whole mess for me… and the chemical burns? They were short lived and only minor irritation occurred.

Thanks for asking.