Stop and Pet the Cows!

You know the old saying, “Stop and smell the roses!” Well, for me its “Stop and pet the cows!” The other day l was beginning to feel a little stressed as I sat at my desk with a mountain of work to finish. Suddenly, I looked over at my husband and said, “I’m taking a break. I’m going to pet the cows!” I don’t know why, but the cows in the field a few blocks from my home, make me smile. I love to visit them and give them a pat on the head. Maybe it satisfies my inner farm-girl. But anyway, back to reality.

The concept of stopping and smelling the roses is actually a good one. Biblical even. The Bible says, “A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones (Proverbs 17:22).” And now, science even confirms this, having discovered that laughter and joy are good for you. How? First, the release of endorphins, our body’s feel good chemicals, are triggered which improves our mood and even has the ability to relieve pain. Second, it has also been proven to decrease stress hormones and increase immune cells and infection fighting antibodies. So a merry heart truly is like medicine! What an amazing gift from God laughter and joy are!

God is the creator of joy and He desires us to experience the wonderful benefits joy brings to our lives.  While joy isn’t based on our outward circumstances, we can experience joy when we take time to enjoy the little things in life like His creation, our family, the ability to laugh, move and play. It reminds us of God’s goodness and causes joy to abound in our lives.

The truth is, sometimes we can get really busy and we may start to feel the pressures of life mounting. Taking time to enjoy the little things in life, helps us to become revitalized and ready to face the tasks at hand. It’s so easy to miss out on the joys of life when we don’t on purpose take a moment to enjoy them. Let’s choose to not let that happen. 

So next time you start to feel a little stressed or like you’re just going through the motions of life, “stop and….take a walk, play a game with your child, dance, be silly, take a deep breath, watch the sun set, or maybe even smell the Rose’s or hey, go pet a cow! Whatever makes you smile, laugh and experience joy!