The Art Of Starting Over: Finding Joy In The Now

IN THE CONSTANT hustle of our lives, we often get caught in a relentless cycle of “doing.” We’re always planning for the next hour, the next week, or that next big milestone, mistakenly believing that happiness is a destination we’ll finally reach once our problems are solved.

But true fulfillment follows a different rhythm. To “Enjoy Life! …in the right sense” is to realize that joy isn’t a reward for a perfect life; it’s a grace available to us in the messy, imperfect “now.”

I learned this lesson most powerfully thirty-four years ago. I was serving as a Vocation Promoter in the Northern Province and had just arrived at our seminary in Tagaytay for an ordination. I must have looked exhausted because a fellow priest, Fr. Among Ricafort, SVD, looked at me and said, “Glenn, don’t take what happened to your family too seriously.” I was stunned. “What happened?” I asked. He looked surprised that I didn’t know: “Your family home burned down.”

I rushed home to San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, expecting to find my parents in despair. Instead, I found a vibrant, unshakable faith that stopped me in my tracks. They hadn’t told me because they didn’t want me to worry about material things while I was on my mission. Standing there in the heat, smelling the lingering scent of ash, my Dad looked at the ruins and actually joked, “Don’t mind it, Glenn! We only lost the rats and the cockroaches! Your two nephews were safe.”

His laughter was a total defiance of tragedy. He wasn’t mourning wood and stone; he was celebrating the life and family that remained. That is the thrill of a soul that knows how to begin again with God.

The biggest obstacle to this joy is the weight of yesterday. We carry around heavy luggage—past regrets or losses—allowing them to anchor us to a version of ourselves that’s gone. To enjoy life in the right sense, we have to master the spiritual art of starting over. Every morning is a “holy beginning,” a chance to reset how we see the world.

How do we find that joy today?

• Stop the mental rehearsal. Quit replaying the past or “pre-living” the worries of tomorrow. Just focus on the mission right in front of you.

• Be present. Joy starts when we stop rushing. Take a second to breathe and realize you are loved, exactly as you are.

• Count the grace. Fulfillment isn’t about what we’ve lost; it’s about the grace that’s still standing.

Drop the heavy baggage. You don’t need a perfect life to have a joyful one. You just need the courage to start over, right here and right now.

Enjoy life… in the right sense!