What Delights You?

"What delights you?" Merriam Webster defines delight as "a high degree of gratification : joy; also : extreme satisfaction".

That question was posed to me recently and I must confess my answer didn't come as quickly as I had wished. I even began to wonder if I delighted in anything! My thoughts became bogged down in the definition and implication that delight invokes involuntary joy. So, in what things do I involuntarily find "extreme satisfaction". What ensued was a day of examining things I have and people with whom I interact. As I scrutinized these things and relationships I realized that it takes a great deal of work just to keep them functioning. And, if everything in my life takes so much effort to make it bearable, is there really any joy in that? Is there any delight in that? Here is the list I came up with and the grade I gave it according to the "extreme satisfaction" it gives me. (1= no satisfaction, 5= extreme satisfaction)

House 1 (But, when I work to improve it, clean it, or plant new flowers and it becomes beautiful that "satisfies" me,) new score 3

Car 1 (It is a really nice car, but, it gets dirty, dinged, and costs a lot of money to keep it running. The only satifaction is if I maintain it well and get to the places I want to go when I want to get there) new score 3

Friends 3 (I have many acquaintances and friends and we enjoy a lot of laughter. Some of us get together quite often to celebrate in many ways. But, having close friends is a lot of work. It takes great deal of effort to plan times for us to get together and there are times when we must work through hurt feelings, disappointments, expectations.) new score (for the friends that have been the most work) 5

Marriage 3 (This relationship of almost 26 years is one of the most difficult to preserve. When I have ignored it I have detested it, when I have worked the hardest it has genuinely delighted me) new score 5

Children 2 (This may seem like an extremely low score to you, but, you should have been here in the really disappointing times. I toiled emotionally, physically, and mentally and still found that I came up short in rearing them. However, when I really got serious about spiritually educating myself about parenting, God worked miracles and let me take part.) new score 5

God 5 (This score starts out high because I realize His mercy is the only thing I have in this relationship. When I make any effort to seek Him, please Him, obey Him, the satisfaction scale goes out of this world, literally!) new score 99999999999999999999999999

Well, my first impression of the meaning of delight was to simply look around and see if anything made me smile. But, what I think I have discovered is that delight is found in experiencing the consequences of working hard and doing the right things, especially in my relationships. This was quite a lesson for me. Rarely is anything the way it may first appear. The things that you think will please you, like nice houses and cars, nice clothes and stuff in general, may give you a sense of well being for a short time, but they scored low on my pleasure scale. The things that I feel that cause me the most pain and work, like friends, marriage, kids are what really give me the fulfillment I desire. This was an eye-opener for me. It encourages me to do what I know is right and continue to work for healthy, more intimate relationships.