So how is your journey going? I hope you are enjoying each step of your race. Instead of just enduring it, I hope you are experiencing great contentment along the way. Even after we choose to celebrate each day, and live in the moment, there are joy thieves that show up to crush our optimism. Two big thieves of joy are regret and dread. Too often we live in regret for the past, or dreading the future. Regret has a way of stealing the joy of now. We can find ourselves stuck in the past, regretting decisions and actions. Dread has a way of stealing the joy of tomorrow. We can live in fear of what will be, or what could be. Dread leads to procrastination, which then leads us back to regret – regretting that we didn’t do what we should have done. (What a vicious negative cycle!) The Bible tells us to forget the past, and to boldly face the future. Proverbs 23:18 says that surely there is a future hope for you. Praise the Lord! God has a bright future for us, and the path of the righteous just gets brighter and brighter! So enjoy the journey, be aware of joy thieves, and then face them head on. When we do, we can live full and run this race with joy, looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)