It's Week Four of The Next Chapter: The Joy Diet book club and this week we are discovering Desire. If you have read my previous Joy Diet posts, you know where I am—Nothing was a flop and I failed at Truth. I was unsure about this week's topic because the word desire makes me think of passionate love and illicit affairs—not personal growth.

When I completed the chapter I felt as though I was ready to embrace the truth, ready to uncover secrets and grow from my discoveries. Shortly after these feelings of I-can-conqueror-the-world-ness, reality smacked me in the face in the form of to-do lists, appointments and special projects. I find it a bit depressing and otherwise hilarious that I am struggling so much with this Joy Diet journey.

The first few days of October are behind us and I am excited to carry the momentum from a few great days into the rest of this month. In my last post I shared my 3 Fs for the fall season—focused, frugal & fun. Here are the ways I plan on practicing my Fs this month...

It is hard to believe we are already saying goodbye to September. A part 
of me feels like holding on tightly to a month that rushed by without 
a proper hello, but another part is welcoming October with open arms. September was a great month overall, but there are definitely things I want to work on. Moving forward, I am looking at this month as an opportunity to
 embrace being focused, frugal and fun.

A few days ago I was in a weird mood. Sitting in my cubicle at work, I wished for some sort of divine inspiration to sweep over me so I could have a great afternoon and power through the rest of my day. I found a card from my Aunt, one of my favorite people in the whole world. The words inside remain as meaningful today as they were then...

Before I finished reading this chapter, I assumed I knew the meaning of nothing. On the first few pages I found Martha Beck’s words, “…doing just about anything is preferable to doing nothing,” and convinced myself that I was destined for defeat – doomed to a week of 15-minute sections of required silence. This is the problem with assumptions.

Today marks the beginning of The Next Chapter: The Joy Diet. I am excited to join this online book club of courageous, artistic and thoughtful bloggers. It may be obvious since this blog is still a baby, but this is my first undertaking of the sort. I am looking forward to seeking joy while exploring Martha Beck’s concept.

Life is full of twists and turns. You can be cruising along and before you realize it, there is a fork in the road. As a control freak, these surprise curves and bumps along the way can really throw me off course. I have discovered that when all else fails, there are two easy ways to get me back on track - settling into my routine and remembering to be grateful.