Does It Bring You Joy? Is That the Right Question?

Does it bring you joy?

Marie Kondo is having a moment. Another moment, actually. She had a moment with her book a few years ago and now she's having a moment with her Netflix show.

She's super-cute. And perfect. I saw her once at lunch and I marveled at this tiny, perfect human being walking by me.

I'm not Marie Kondo. Or perfect. You might have already figured that out by now.

What's My Problem?

Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out what brings me joy, or whether the joy that it brings is worth the pain that it also brings.

Like conditioning work. I love the feeling after I've finished (joy) but during the workout? Meh. Not so much. So it brings me joy at the end, but not in the middle.There are many things in life like this. Childbirth. Cooking. Love. I bet there are more but those three come to mind.

Let's Talk About Love

How many times have you been in love and it breaks your heart? Wrecks you. Destroys any semblance of normality you were clinging to in the hopes that your friends and family might think you're not the oddest person they've ever met.

One day, you're all "Oooh, love, life, everything is beautiful" and the next you're all "Wahhhh. What happened to my perfect life?"

Ugh. I hate love.

And I love it.Sort of like back squats. Or maybe dumbbell snatches.

Maybe it's not normal to compare matters of the heart to gym movements. But we left the Normal Station long ago.

What Am I Trying to Say?

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: I appreciate the perfection of Marie Kondo and her perfect little question ... but it's not real life.

We are far messier beings than this.

And we will require far messier questions to clearn up the sprawling clutter of our hearts and minds ... and our houses, most likely.

In the meantime, if anybody tries that "Does it bring you joy?" question in the gym, you might want to kick them in the shins.

Many of the wonderful things in this life don't bring you joy in the first moment, or the second, or the 15th.

With some things, you may need to wait until the end to see the joy. But the joy question is good for your belongings. Clear that shit out. Only one thing is for certain: burpees don't bring joy ever. And maybe that's the point of them. Everything else feels fantastic in comparison!