Monday Motivation: There is Joy to Be Found

In the new bestseller “The Book of Joy” featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu written by Douglas Abrams, the following quote touched my heart, “Wherever you have a friend that’s your country, and wherever you receive love, that’s your home.” It is an old Tibetan saying the Dalai Lama shared with the author and his close friend as the three discussed the meaning of joy.

I knew what he meant because I feel like I’m home in the company of women entrepreneurs no matter where I go, who I meet or hug, and what kind of business they conduct. Saratoga and Utica were my “countries” last week as I traveled there to host intimate inspirational and educational luncheons for women. In January, Binghamton, Syracuse, and Rochester will be my countries as I travel there.

My friend Shannon gave me “The Book of Joy” for my birthday with a simple note inside, “Tracy, who is full of Joy.” I in return surprised her with my book “Under the Rose-Colored Hat” with lessons learned from almost two years of hardship with alopecia when joy was hard to find until strangers greeted me unexpectedly with hugs, advice, loving gestures and prayers when they saw my bald head under a pink hat.

I didn’t write my book to add one more thing to my resume, but to share a similar lesson of love, kindness, compassion, and acceptance by others towards me, just like I have done for years to people I see. One line in my book says, “All I wanted to be was kind at the moment,” as I described an experience giving my warm food to a homeless man in Boston and holding the hand of an elderly woman almost taken away by the wind in the parking lot one day.

“We create most of our suffering, so it should be logical that we also have the ability to create more joy. It simply depends on the attitudes, the perspective, and the reactions we bring to situations and to our relationships with other people. When it comes to personal happiness there is a lot that we as individuals can do,” the Dalai Lama shared.

As the countdown to Christmas comes this week, as busy women entrepreneurs rushing around hoping to finish all your work and personal tasks, realize you have time to be kind to yourself and others and to find personal happiness inside. I hope you find what I found on the street, compassionate people who want to show even the smallest amounts of kindness to brighten your day. I hope you receive it and give it as well.

P.S. My book with its lessons of kindness, love, and acceptance can still be bought and shipped in time of Christmas for yourself or a loved one who could use some kindness inspiration.