Joyce Meyer - Joy and Enjoyment

TOPICS: Joy

Alright, this weekend, I have three messages, tonight, tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon, and I'm gonna teach on, "Joy and Enjoyment". But, more so even than joy, I'm gonna be talking about enjoyment. How to enjoy your life, and not just vacation, or a party, or going shoppin', or those rare days when something really, super exciting happens to you. Because we all know, that those are... You might say, far and few between, they're in our lives, but we don't live on that mountain top all the time, do we?

A lot of life, most of life, is ordinary. It's get up, go to bed, go to work, come home, do the dishes, change the oil in the car, cut the grass, go to the grocery store, do the laundry, cook the food, watch everybody eat it, clean up the mess. Get up the next day, go to work, and, I believe that there is a way, through God's help, that we can enjoy, enjoy, everything, that we do. For example, if I would have walked out here and said, "How many of you enjoyed driving to work in traffic"? How many do you enjoy doing the laundry? How many enjoy cleaning house? God bless the two of you, who like to clean. How 'bout the grocery store, how many love going to the grocery store?

Well, I could come up with some stuff, you know, like, I'm not a morning person, and so, when I wake up, my first thought is not to jump out of bed and say, "Good morning, everybody"! I have to be honest and say, first, I think, "Oh my gosh, I don't want to get up. I don't want to get up, I don't want to get up". But God's been showing me some things, that I'm gonna share with you this weekend, that I think can change a lot of that in your life. I was in a store a few weeks ago, it was a clothing shop, and they were actually doing my transaction, there were a couple of ladies standing kind of back over here, and I would say that they were elderly ladies, but they're probably about my age, so I won't say that. Let's just say that they looked elderly, and I don't, so you better agree, 'cause I work really hard on it.

And, one of them said to the other one, "So, how are ya"? And she said. "Well, ya know, I'm making it through". And then she said to the other one, "And how are you"? And she said, "Yeah, about the same for me, I'm making it through". And I thought, "You know what, that's really sad". But that's most people's story, getting by, making it through, and God has got so much more for us, than that. There's nothing about God that is barely get by. He is Jehovah El Shaddai, the God of what? More than enough, not just enough, or barely enough, but more than enough.

Now, let me make this point, that everybody in here has joy, if you have Jesus, you have joy. It's in you, it's in your spirit, but satan works really hard at trying to block it from coming out, or from us feeling it, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. I believe that joy is powerful, I believe that joy is healing, I think the happiest people are the ones who feel the best. Amen? And so, I think that we need to be as joyful as we can and joy is anything from hilarity, to a calm delight. So, to be joyful doesn't mean that you go all day long laughing and cackling your way through life, but it does mean that you have a calm delight about your life.

Now, different people have different personalities. One of my daughters, I have two, is a real strong, I don't know all the terms for it, but when I studied the personalities, she would have been called a sanguine, she's a real morning person, "Good morning, everybody! How are you"? And she gets so excited, about the simplest, little things. And I can tell ya, it's not because she's more spiritual than anybody else. She is a spiritual girl, and loves God, and teaches his word, but a lot of it is personality. And so, we have to learn that our personalities are all different. But she called me the other day, she'd been to my house, and then she called later, she said, "Oh, I went shopping for some more Christmas lights when I left your house". And she said, "I got so excited, I almost hyperventilated".

Now, ya know, I'm good with Christmas, I like my lights, but I have yet to hyperventilate over them. That's just not in my personality wheel. Amen? So, when I say, ya know, that you can enjoy every part of your life, I don't mean that you have to be necessarily like she is, or maybe somebody else... How many of you know somebody that's just like that, they just bubble and gush all over everything? Well, if you're just honest, if you're like a strong choleric, type a, do they get on your nerves sometimes? Cause you know, you're kinda thinking, "Oh, give me a break. Nobody hyperventilates over their Christmas lights". Well, she does. Enjoyment.

Let me ask you a question, does it make you happy to see your children enjoy themselves? Okay, so does it make you happy to see them sad and depressed, and murmuring and complaining, and dreading and fearing, and worrying and full of anxiety? Well, if we, as human beings, feel that way about our children, how do you suppose that God feels? And one of the problems that people have, not all people, but some people, I had this problem, is they don't really think, or know that God approves of them enjoying their lives.

Now, I kind of missed childhood, I didn't get to do that very well because I was in an abusive situation and there was nothing happy in my house. And I can remember, actually getting in trouble for laughing and playing. "Stop all that racket"! My dad would say. And so, I seemed to please people better, if I was working. So, I just felt like working was better than enjoying. So, until I was almost fifty, I actually felt guilty pretty much any time I was enjoying myself, because I thought surely there was some work that I should be doing.

Now, if I'm right there's some people in this conference, and by the way, I am right. There's somebody in this conference, probably lots of somebody's, that if I don't say this to you, you will sit here and you will not enjoy this entire conference, because you will be thinking about all the things that you probably should have stayed home and done, that's gonna be waiting for you, when you get back. C'mon, I'll let you put your hand up at half mast. Well, that's several hundred people.

Alright, what sense does that make? Let me tell you something that I've learned, the dirt will be there tomorrow. Now, I don't think it needs to stay there forever, but that doesn't mean that you can never take a break from work. Actually, you will work better and more efficiently if you do take breaks and do things that you enjoy. I've even finally gotten to the point where I take little five minute vacations throughout the day. I used to go from thing, to thing, to thing, to thing, to thing, to thing. And I've gotten to the point now where if i, like after I workout, I work out with my trainer Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Well, I'm tired when I do that. Well my next thing is to go get cleaned up, so I would go straight, take a shower, start doing my hair and all that stuff. Not now, I go to my recliner, and I just sit there for five or ten minutes and recover from the workout. Then, I go to the next thing. And you'd be amazed just those little five minute, mini vacations, how they can restore you and refresh you and literally help you enjoy your day, even though a lot of it is just taking care of mundane things.

Now, we're gonna go through about four scriptures, and I want us to look at them rather seriously because when God started teaching me that he wanted me to enjoy my life, that I wasn't built just to work, work, work, work, produce, produce, produce, these are some of the scriptures that God led me to, that really were eye opening. John chapter 10:10, and actually this must be important to me, because we call our TV program, "Enjoying Everyday Life", and it was simply because I had such a hard time learning how to do that. And to some of you that may sound foolish, but how many of you, to you it does not sound foolish at all, and you know exactly what I'm talking about. Okay, well, that's most of you, so thank God we got the right message.

John 10:10, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. But I came", how many of you are glad Jesus came? I love the way that's put together, here's what the devil came to do, "but I came, that they may have and enjoy life", not just have it, but enjoy it, "and have it in abundance, (to the full, until it overflows)". Everybody say, "I am going to enjoy my life". See, we live a natural life, but God adds a super to it. You can live an ordinary, you can even have a problem and still enjoy yourself. "How am I supposed to do that"? We're gonna talk a little bit tonight about perspective, because so much of life is how we decide to look at it, and we get to make that decision. Amen?

All right. Notice the phrase that says, "Abundance, full and overflowing", not just barely enough for you to get by, not just, "Oh, I'm on making it through", but enough joy for yourself, and some to spill over onto other people, that might make them a little hungry and thirsty for what you have. Jesus teaches people to abide in him. John chapter 15, is about abiding in him. "If you abide in me, and my word abides in you, you can ask what you will, and I'll do it. If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit". And so he goes on like that for 10 verses about abiding, abide in my love. Abide means to live, dwell and remain or it means to rest in. To rest in, to abide in Jesus. And then in verse 11, he says, "I have told you this", all this stuff about abiding, he said, "I've told you this that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete".

So, I don't think we're gonna have any enjoyment if we don't learn how to rest in God. You can't worry and be anxious and enjoy your life at the same time. Amen? And you can't be worn out, and so tired you can't move all the time, and enjoy your life. We gotta get some balance in our lives, and enjoyment is a large part of what helps us recover and make it through the difficult times in life. The Amplified says, "I've told you these things, that my joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing". And then John 16:24, says, "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask now and you will receive, and your joy will be complete". The Amplified Bible says, "Ask and receive that your joy may be full".

And I think we do a lot of asking, but we don't take the time to stop and receive. Thank you. That's all right, think about it, I want you to think about it. 'cause I'll tell you, nothing makes the devil madder, than when you learn how to enjoy yourself in any kind of a situation. You don't have to dread driving to work everyday, you don't have to dread the dishes, and dread the laundry, and dread going to the grocery store, you can actually enjoy it. You say, "Well, tell me how"! I will. I'm having a hard time holding it back really, but I'm, I'mma make you wait. "Ask and receive, that your joy may be full", you know, there's a lot of people aren't very good at receiving. Don't you just really not like it when you try to give somebody something, and they go on and on about, "No, no, no, no, no. No, no". I'm like, "Will you just take it. Just please take it". And a lot of times we don't know how to receive from God.

See, some of you tonight, need to receive God's mercy. Come on, it's a free gift and you're still mad at yourself for something you did a year ago, and you've asked God to forgive you, and you even believe that he did, but you haven't forgiven yourself, because you won't receive God's mercy. Mercy is God being good to you when you don't deserve it. You get ahold of what mercy really is, that'll give you joy. And then in John 17:13, he says, I'm just going to read you, well, I'll read you both, NIV and Amplified. "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I'm still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them". But now, look at the Amplified, "And now I'm coming to you: I say these things while I am still in the world, so that my joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them". That they may what? "Oh, my gosh, you mean this is just a not by faith thing, but he actually wants us to experience his joy and experience enjoying life"?

You know, I'm all for faith and believing by faith, and waiting in faith, but, you know there comes a time where I want to get it too. I want to have the experience of having it, and I want to be able to tell somebody that it's real, and that the wait was worth it. Come on. "I want my delight to be fulfilled in them and my enjoyment to be perfected in their own souls". How happy do we think Jesus is? He's saying, "I want you to be as happy as I am. I want you to have the kind of joy that I have. I want you to enjoy life as much as I enjoy life". I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me. I believe that education about joy is very, very important, we must believe that God wants us to enjoy our life.

Can everybody say, "God wants me to enjoy my life". But obviously, we can't live on vacation, some of you don't even enjoy that anyway, 'cause you take your vacation to worry about all your problems. Now, we need special things in our life, and sometimes, you get to the point where you just feel like, "Man, God, I really need you to do something for me, show me something". And I don't care who you are, or what you do, we all come to that point at times. I just went through a period where I said, "Okay, God. I've been doing by faith here for a long time, I need you to do something special for me". And there's nothing wrong with that, asking God to do something special for you, when you feel like that you're really at the point where you need it.

And I prayed about it for a few days, and sure enough three or four things have happened since then. They probably wouldn't mean that much to you, but I knew it was a wink from God, to me. Don't you love it when you get those little, "I'm here, I heard you, I'm taking care of you". And so often, what we do, is we get mad at people because they're not giving us what we think we'd like to have, instead of going to God and asking him to give us something. Come on, hear me. "Well, I'm mad at Dave because he hasn't done this, and he hasn't done that". Well, I did all that for years and years, and I can tell you that's useless. It's not going to change the person you're married to, to blame them for your lack of joy.

The Lord told me one time, "Stop giving Dave the responsibility for your joy". Come on now, somebody might just get set free with that. One woman, after a conference like this, and I haven't taught on this in a long, long time, but she actually came and thanked me for giving her permission to enjoy life. And I have a feeling there might be a few like that here, because I believe with all my heart, that what God gives me to teach in different places, is the right word, in due season, for that place. And there are people here tonight, that desperately need this.

As I said, I was about 50 before I began to learn that God really wanted me to enjoy my life. And, I remember laying on the couch one night, and I was gonna watch a movie, and I'd been at work all day, and I've always been a hard worker, and I was eating some popcorn, and I just realized as I laid there, that I had this vague feeling out in my space, of guilt. Ya ever feel like that when you try to rest, or try to enjoy yourself? Like, "I should be doing, you know, I should be doing, I should be or I shouldn't be". And I said, "God, why do I go through this all the time"? He said, "Because you don't think you deserve to enjoy yourself".

You know Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes and he... Ecclesiastes is a fascinating book, I just read it again recently, and he's supposed to be the wisest guy on the face of the earth, but he sure did some dumb stuff. But it says in the beginning of the book that, "He tried everything". I mean, he had everything, he tried everything, he had wives, he had concubines, he had money, he built houses... There's one part where it says, "And I built for myself pools, and I built for myself houses, and I built for myself", and I thought, "Well, there's your problem, everything you did was for yourself". And I believe that. But, he makes this statement all the time, "Under the sun", and what he's talking about, is on the earth. He tried to find enjoyment in earthly things, and you really can't do that.

And finally, at the very end of the book in chapter 12, he said, "After all that he'd done, he came to the realization that the whole duty of man was to fear God and obey him". And that, that would straighten out every crooked circumstance in your life. Amen? But, a couple of things that he did find out that I thought was good, in Ecclesiastes 2:24-25, he said, "A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their work, or their toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God".

Now, I think that's interesting, he said one of the best things that you can do is, figure out how to enjoy your work. See, I actually enjoy what I'm doing, I'm enjoying myself tonight. I enjoyed getting ready for the conference. And you say, "Well yeah, I guess if I had your job, I'd enjoy it too". No you wouldn't, no you wouldn't, because you're not supposed to have my job. God's given everyone of us an assignment, and whatever your assignment is, that's what you're supposed to do with joy, and that's what you're supposed to enjoy. You say, "Well, there's no way I can enjoy the stupid the job I've got". Just wait till I'm done tonight, I think you're go home with a different attitude. And if not, I've got two more shots at you.

How many of you think it's important that we learn how to enjoy, just think what a difference it would make in your life, if you enjoyed everything you did. Just think about that. I mean everything, you don't have to dread doing the dishes, and dread going to the grocery store, and dread this, and dread that. You know dread is a very close relative to fear. I'm not going to dread that, I'm gonna find a way to enjoy it. Ecclesiastes 4:7 and 8, and I love this, you have to see this. He says "Again, I saw something meaningless under the sun: there was a man", now, this man we are gonna talk about, had five problems, "There was a man all alone". That was his first problem, people are not meant to be alone, we're meant for community and fellowship with other human beings. So, do not isolate yourself and think you don't need anybody, because we all need other people. Amen?

"He had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil", that was the man's second problem, his work never got over. He didn't know how to take five minute vacations. "Yet his eyes were", third problem, "Not content with his wealth". So, he worked so much that he made a lot of money, but he wasn't content with the money he made, because he was greedy. So even though he worked so hard, he wasn't able to enjoy the wealth that he had. His fourth problem was, "For whom am I toiling"? He didn't even know why he was doing it. He didn't have anybody, he didn't have anybody to leave it to. And in one part of Ecclesiastes, he says, "I'll leave it all to somebody I don't even know". Come on now. And then listen to this, "And he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment'"? Amen? And why are you doing that? You need to get to the bottom of the problem.

And here again, you understand, I'm not talking about living on vacation and parties, "Oh I'm enjoying myself, I'm going shopping, I'm enjoying myself, I got another credit card and I'm going to fill it up to the max". That's not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about enjoying ordinary, everyday life, getting up, going to bed, getting up, going to bed, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday... Whoops, it's Monday again. Oh, we're so glad for the weekends and holidays, but Monday always comes back around. Five problems he had, he was all alone, never stopped working, had a lot of money, but wasn't content with it, had nobody to leave it to, "Why am I depriving myself of enjoyment"?

And I just want to tell you right now, first of all, you're all wealthy. He talks about having wealth, and you might be thinking, "Well, you know, if I had wealth, I'd be happy". Eh-uh, not necessarily, because money alone, has no power to make you happy. It really doesn't. But for goodness sakes, and let me say, everybody that came in here tonight, is wealthier than two-thirds of the rest of the world. So, don't waste your time feeling so sorry for yourself, wishing you had more money and somebody else's life. What you need to do, is start managing what you have well, and start enjoying some of what you have.

My husband has a philosophy that we've lived by, and it's simple but it works. Out of everything that you have, give some, save some, spend some, within your borders and then God will increase your borders and you'll be able to give more, save more, and spend more. Amen? But don't just be so busy saving for retirement that you never enjoy where you're at right now. How many people retire and die two years later? Ya know? And I think it's because they're bored silly they don't have anything to do.

People ask me when I'm gonna retire, you don't, listen, I got five, six hundred people that work for me, that don't want to hear the word retire. I don't have any plans to retire. I am trying to figure out how I can keep looking young enough that people will look at me, ya know. But I don't know, someday, they may wheel me out here, and as long as my mouth works, I guess I can still come, I don't know. And I don't know, ya know, circumstances happen, and someday, I might not be able to do this anymore. I've already decided if I can't, I'm just as important then, as I am now, because you're worth is not tied to what you do, it's who you are, and who you belong to, amen? But don't just work and save all your money so someday you can sit around and do nothing. I mean surely, we can have a better goal in life than that. I mean least if you want to retire and not work anymore, then volunteer for something, make plans to travel and go on trips, but don't just sit around every day and be cranky for your kids to take care of.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-19, "This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their work under the sun during the few days of life that God has given them, for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth", and that's all of us, "And possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil, this is a gift from God". So don't just work, but enjoy your work. Now, big thing I'm gonna say here, learn to enjoy your life, not the one that somebody else's got, that you want. You cannot be jealous and envious and ever enjoy yourself. "But I don't understand, I don't". Nobody's asking you to understand. God's just asking you to embrace what he's given you, to bloom where you're planted.

See, our whole job here in the earth is to glorify God. It's not to get ahead, and be the president of the company, and ya know, be world famous, and it's just to glorify God, and to enjoy God, don't just serve God, enjoy God, enjoy being God's child. Enjoy the little corner of life that he has given you, so what if your house is not as big as somebody else's, or you can't buy as expensive of clothes as somebody else's, or you weigh 10 pounds more than somebody else does. Those are not the things that our joy should be tied up in. Most of life is ordinary, but you can learn to enjoy it. Mark 4:26 and 27, "He", Jesus, "Also said, 'this is what the Kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how'".

The seed sprouts, God is working, but in the meantime, we have to deal with a lot of ordinary life. You plant your seeds of faith, you plant your financial seeds in the Kingdom of God, and you believe that God is working, and while you're waiting you enjoy the life that you have. We have to get over this thinking, "I'll enjoy life when", "I'll be glad when", not when, now. Come on, everybody say "Now", nice and loud. Alright now, something that God has been showing me and this sounds so simple, you're gonna say, "Well, duh. I know that", but, I think it may help a lot of you. Alright, so, here's a way, this is my little secret trick, here's a way that you can enjoy everything you do. You wake up in the morning, you think "Ugh, I don't want to get up, I don't want to go to work, I don't want to drive in traffic, I don't want to hear these kids. I dread it all, but I guess I'll get up and do it".

Okay, when I wake up now, and I lay there and think, "I really don't particularly want to get up". Then I think, "Thank God I've got feet, I can actually get up and walk to my bathroom, and walk out to my kitchen, and make myself a cup of coffee in my lovely, little coffee pot, and sit in my recliner, and look out my window, and drink my coffee, and talk to Jesus because I am saved". Now, I want you to listen to what I'm gonna say. It is impossible to enjoy your life without gratitude, and I mean pretty constant gratitude. I'm not talking about, "Oh God, thank you for the vacation". "Oh, I dread driving in traffic all the way to work". No, thank God that I've got a car to drive.

C'mon, thank God I've got a job to go to, it may not be my favorite, but I've got a job, but a lot of people don't have a job. And I remember when I was younger like in my twenties, I would have to wait on two buses, out in the cold weather, and then do the same thing again to come home at night, stand on the street corner, I mean, it was cold, and get on a bus and sometimes there were no seats, and have to hang on to some... All the way. And missing a bus, and having to stand there for another 15-20 minutes. Thank God you got a car! There's always something to find to be thankful for, and it will change your whole perspective on the way you look at life.

But, this is not something that's just going to automatically happen because you hear my message. I'll be honest with you, this is something that you're going to have to work at a little bit and do on purpose, because the devil does not want you to have joy or to enjoy your life. I used to look at this like my work. "Oh, I'll be glad when the conference is over so I can go home and rest". I thought you know, "This is stupid". I live on this stage, I mean, not as much now as I used to, I do a lot of meetings now, but I used to really do a lot of meetings. I mean like, I literally, felt like I lived up here. And I thought, "Well, if this is what God's calling me to, and this is what I'm gonna do, I'm enjoying it". I'm not going to stand up here, and be afraid of what the people think, I'm not gonna stand up here and be worried about whether you like me or not or whether I say everything exactly the right way. I am enjoying this.

How many of you realize that you need to just flat-out refuse to not enjoy your life? One person. That's lovely. Don't make me come out there and get you. "Well, I dread doing the dishes". Oh, yeah, that's going to be really hard to put them in your automatic dishwasher, and put a little soap in there and hit a button. Poor you. "Ahh man, I hate to unload that dishwasher". Come on, am I right?

Okay, well travel with me for a minute to India. First of all, most of 'em don't even have silverware they eat with their fingers. And the kids, we have a lot of like, feeding programs, and they'll have these little metal bowls that look like they've been through about three wars, and in order to wash that dish, when they're done, somebody has had to walk possibly round trip 10 miles to bring back some filthy dirty water to wash it in. And then we get unappy because we have to go to the faucet, and turn on the water, and rinse the dish, put it in the dishwasher, and go back and get it later, and put it in our cupboard. Come on, I'm right. See, because we have so much abundance and because we have so many conveniences, we are spoiled rotten. Amen? So we lose the ability to be thankful, and then we can't enjoy anything because a grumpy person cannot enjoy their life or anything that they do. There's always something that you can find to be thankful for, in every situation. Amen?

Philippians 4:11, they had sent Paul an offering, the Philippians. And he said, "Now, I'm not saying this because I'm in need", he was thanking them, "I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances". He learned it, wasn't something that came automatic, he learned it. "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength".

Now, we take verse 13, a little bit out of context sometimes, and we take it to mean "I can just do whatever I want to do. I can do it". Paul was talking about something specific, he was saying, "I can be content when I have plenty, or when I don't have enough". Or let's just put it another way, I can be content when everything's going my way and I can be content when nothing is going my way.

Now, how could Paul do that? I believe, yes, there are things we have to learn in order to be able to do these things. So, the gratitude can be a big, big, big thing in your life, but I believe the secret that Paul had learned was, that no matter what circumstance he was in, it was going to work out ultimately for his good. Come on. No matter what the circumstance you're in, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose, all things work together for good to those who love him, and want his will in their life.

See, I believe, that even when Paul was in prison, one of the reasons why he could be in prison and say, "Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice". And I stood in the prison that he was in, and trust me there was nothing there to rejoice about. They say, that the sewage in the city ran through there, now, thankfully it was gone when I was there, but I mean it wasn't much bigger than this... I mean, I don't even think it was big enough for the man to lay down, without curling up in a ball. And he said, "Rejoice in the Lord, and again, I say rejoice". You know why I think he was like that, first of all, he always found something to be thankful for, secondly, he believed that it would work out good in the end, and thirdly, he believed that even if he stayed there, it would end up being for God's glory. Somehow, it would end up glorifying God.

One of the things he said, "Is my imprisonment has given you courage to be bold in sharing the Gospel". When he was in prison, jailers got saved. So, he believed that everything would work out good. What would happen if we actually started, instead of dreading everything, finding something to be thankful for, and believing no matter what problem we have, that it was gonna work out good in the end. We have something we say, "This is gonna end well". How many of you are going through something pretty serious right now? Can I tell you, it's gonna to end well. It's gonna end well. And you do everything you can to keep enjoying right where you're at, while you're on your way to where you're going.