A-Z Day 10

Copyright ©2015 Mark Kelly.

J is for Joy.

What gives me joy in my life, I ask myself on this, the tenth day of A-Z? Well, in my life there are less rather than more things that give me joy as in the sense of happiness, delight, pleasure, enjoyment - all of which fall under the heading of nouns for 'joy' in the Collins Thesaurus, to list but a few.

Obviously there are the general things in life: my family (when not being a pain in the butt), my wife, Darcy our dog, the cats: Eve & Tilly, when they aren't scratching the hell out of the stair carpet or complaining about a door being shut.



Sunny mornings: I will admit give me a sense of joy, especially as they often remind me of my teenage years in the swimming club when me and my squad mates would be up at first light during the summer holidays in order to drive down to Southerndown beach (as featured in David Tennant's farewell episode to Rose Tyler, as played by Billie Piper), and not leave there until the sun was starting to sink on the horizon.

www.miriadna.com

Food: For me nothing beats a chip butty. Fresh bread, buttered and hot chips (fries to our American cousins - but not the skinny MacDonalds stuff, but real, homemade chips the size of a doorstep), drizzled with tomato ketchup. Bread folded over and firmly squeezed until the butter is melting and mixng with ketchup. Tucking into one of those bad boys always puts a smile on my tummy :)

www.foodnetwork.co.uk

Drink: This is what I used to drink when looking for my fix until I learnt how bad it was for the enamel on my teeth: Coke Cola and orange juice mixed together. I used to call it my 'mud drink', purely for the reason that it looked the colour of mud water - but hell, it tasted amazing. Sweet, yes, refreshing, yep - especially if the cola was slightly less than bursting with fizz and slightly chilled. And satisfying as hell. But then, isn't everythuing that's bad for you these days?

Music: My guilty pleasure guaranteed to bring joy to my inner being - the sounds of the 80s. Mainly the stuff I'd listen to from the age of 17-24. I could be totally wrong here, but my own thoughts on music from that era was that it had an innocence to it. Music produced for music's sake and the art of it, unlike today, where it's now so abundantly clear it is just an industry aimed at making as much money as possible in as short a space of time. Call me cynical :oP

www.fanpop.com

Training/Fitness: Since the age of 12 I have been training in one way or another, beginning with competitive swimming, to martial arts, and everything between. There is nothing more wonderful than the human body in total control of itself and being put through a disciplined regime of one sort or another, be it the guy in his own garage or basement, or the olympic trained athlete.
For me it is the one thing I have complete control over. So when life feels like it's giving me a kicking I know I can turn to my self and get my nose to the floor and blast my body through physical exertion. It focuses and clears the mind, and for that given amount of time there is nothing but you and your mental and physical discipline.

Friends: Of these there are few that I consider akin to family, they are that close to me. But they exist and we have fun together when able and do the stupid things that we know will make us laugh. My friends know me of old now that I might not contact them for days, weeks, and for some, months on end, but when we get together it's like we've only been apart since the previous day. That for me, is a brilliant quality. No pressure, no hassle, none of this, "Why haven't you returned my text?" crap. It's one main reason why I no longer feed that mega troll known as FaceBook. Poison to friendships.
Of the few, I love them all and will do anything for them, and I know the same could be said of them.

Blog: The joy of the A-Z is that it allows me to dust off my brain, sit down and tap away at my keyboard and breathe fresh life into my previously neglected blog. Sorry blog :(

That's it. Done and dusted. Closing time now. Come back next week when we'll have something new for you. Thank you for stopping by. Goodbye and enjoy your weekend.