Optimise for joy

Something to consider..

What is one thing in your life, which if it did not exists, would result in significantly more joy?

Here’s my example:

We moved into our current house ± 5 years ago. In our back yard, we have a Bougainvillea (yes that’s how you spell it, I checked).

Bougainvillea look amazing from far, but as soon as you come a bit closer you realise they are full of nasty thorns. They are very aggressive growers/climbers, which mean they grow into any fences, trees and basically anything close to them.

For the last 5 years, I have had to do the following twice per year:

• Spend an entire day trimming it
• Do multiple trips to the refuse dump
• Face the constant onslaught from the thorns and I often end up with torn clothes and a few wounds.

It got to the point where I stopped enjoying gardening. This year I decided that enough is enough. I am going to remove this evil from my life. This was no easy task.

It took me 2 days to trim the Bougainvillea down to a stump. Then I hired 3 meter trailor and a garden worker to help me load the bakkie, while I spent the day digging/cutting it out at the route.

We took 3 trips to the refuse dump and we spent 7 hours working, but in the end, I conquered the Bougainvillea.

I enjoy my garden again

Every day, I look into my garden and everything is better. The other plants have space to grow. The grass is no longer struggling under the canopy of the Bougainvillea. I look forward to working in my garden again.

My only regret?

Not doing it sooner.

So I’ll end this with the same question I started with:

What is one thing in your life, which if it did not exists, would result in significantly more joy?

Remove it, and thank me later.