Success and Joy

While playing a computer game called Simon’s Cat Crunch the other day, I realized just how easy it is to get caught up in something so challenging.  I could see how kids can get to the point where they don’t want to stop sitting and playing their computer games.

I love the challenge of figuring out what my strategy should be as I reach each new level.  I get frustrated with myself when I go too fast so that I make a wrong move which impacts winning or losing.  I talk to the screen as if it can hear me and will change its tactics.  I make excuses when it takes me weeks just to solve one puzzle.

Here at UCH our focus is on living out our life of faith by accepting each new challenge we face believing that the Lord will guide us through it.  We get frustrated, we even yell at God when things don’t go our way, but we stay the course.  Life is not a computer game.  Yes, there are similarities, but we are real people in a real world and there is nothing in this world as simple and as complex as the love that God has for us.

As I work at trying to navigate the physical challenges I have these days, I have time again not just for games, but for time to be quiet and just listen to what God is trying to teach me.  I have more time to be present to the people around me, to listen, to pray, and to hold them in my heart.  While I can, at times, yell at God for undoing my vision of a physically active retirement, I work at being grateful for the gifts I have received because I have had to slow down.

I enjoy games, but it is real life and my awareness that the Lord is taking me on a journey toward greater successes than I’ll ever have with games, that brings me joy.  I’d rather be caught up in that joy than in any other kind of success.

What is your idea of success and what brings you joy?  Are they the same thing?  - Chris L.