Stories by Joy

June 12 2025

Finding Joy in the Journey: What I Learned from My First Podcast

When Barbara Tucker invited me to be a guest on her podcast, Dialogues with Creators, I thought I’d be talking about traveling in my motorhome, my quest to ride my bike in all fifty states, and writing my book Finding Joy in the West. But as the conversation unfolded, something unexpected happened: I heard my own story in a new way. I realized again that I was finding joy in the journey.

Barbara’s first question was about how I ended up in Georgia after growing up in the Midwest. After attending the same public school system from K-12, graduating from a well-respected Liberal Arts College close by, and earning a master’s degree from Indiana University, I dreamed of teaching in my hometown. A woman told me I would never get a job in the school system I attended. I believed her and subsequently followed my sister Sandi and my brother Tom to Georgia. Until recently, I hadn’t thought about how one person’s words totally changed the trajectory of my life. What a lesson for young people. “Don’t let anyone steal your dream.”

Barbara’s questions didn’t just ask where I’d been or where I was going. They touched on why I travel, what is so special about riding a bike, and how my childhood dreams of riding and writing had unfolded. In speaking those answers out loud, I realized on another level that I am living my dream. I am finding joy. And I am encouraging others to do the same.

I didn’t realize how far I have come until I listened to the interview. Being on the podcast wasn’t just a chance to tell my story. It reminded me that joy isn’t something we find once. It’s something we keep choosing. I have often written, “Keep finding your joy.” It’s something we need to remind ourselves of every day.

Thank you, Barbara, for asking questions that made me reflect on my journey. Your interview carried me back to where my dreams began.

When was the last time you told your story? I challenge you to share it with a friend. Your story might just lead you to finding joy in the journey too.

Thanks for being a part of this journey!

If you enjoyed reading this blog, I’d love your support in growing this community! Please share this with your friends, family, or anyone who might find it interesting. Your shares help me reach more people to help them find their joy.

Joy M. Walker

May 29 2025

A Tribute to David Clark, Superman

On October 17, 2015, I had the honor of riding a stationary bike alongside two ultra-runners for twenty-four hours. My friend Gregg Ellis organized an event to raise money for the Carter Hope Recovery Center in Dalton, Georgia. He invited me to ride with him. He also invited his friend from Colorado, David Clark, known to many as Superman. To commemorate ten years of sobriety, David planned ten epic runs in 2015. Number eight of David’s ten runs was Gregg’s 24-hour treadmill run.

At the end of the event, David handed me a copy of his first book, Out There: A Story of Ultra Recovery, with the inscription: To Joy, My awesome friend that suffered by my side so awesomely. Keep going! David Clark

I read it right away. (Well, after a nap, of course.) David wrote about his life, addiction, and path to becoming an ultra-runner.

In 2019, David wrote another book, Broken Open. And in May 2020, he released his third. Less than two weeks later, David had herniated disc surgery, and on May 21, 2020, at age 49, David died from surgery complications. After hearing the news on Rich Roll’s podcast (episode 521), I read all his books, wanting to better understand the Superman I had pedaled beside. (It surprised me to read in Broken Open he had included my name along with Gregg’s and a few others in his description of epic run number eight.)

Fast forward five years. Two weeks ago, I grabbed my signed copy of Out There off my shelf and flipped through it. Over the next several days, I listened to it on Audible from a new perspective—as an author. Then I listened to his second book, and his third. David had a gift, a rare ability to put words to emotions, pain, and beauty.

David inspired me as an athlete when I met him ten years ago. He inspired me five years ago through his story of resilience. And now, as an author who struggles to describe my thoughts and God’s creations, David is teaching me, through his words, how to write more deeply and vividly.

I wish I could tell him what a talented writer he was. He truly was Superman—not just because of what he overcame, but because of what he gave the rest of us—the belief that we can thrive, too.

Who inspires you? Have you told them lately? Don’t wait.

May 15 2025

Maybe all we need to do is lower the bar

Maybe all we need to do is lower the bar. Yesterday marked 1000 days of reaching my steps goal. One thousand days ago wasn’t January 1 or my birthday, nor had I set a goal of 1000 days. It was a random Thursday in August 2022. Though I didn’t begin with this end in mind, reaching the 1000-day milestone didn’t happen by accident.

After receiving a Garmin watch for my birthday, I spent a couple of months experimenting with a steps goal that would stretch me as a physical education teacher turned writer yet still be attainable on days when my feet were sore from riding or mowing. Since most days I far exceeded my mark, I considered raising the bar. But on nights when I was walking in my neighborhood at 11:00, I knew it was just right.

Greg McKeown wrote in Effortless about setting lower and upper limits—do enough to keep the chain going, but not so much that you burn out. Inspired by this 1000-days milestone, I’ve lowered my lower limit for writing Finding Joy in the East. Restarting after focusing on Finding Joy in the West was a struggle. Then, I remembered Jon Acuff’s advice, “start with fifteen minutes.” So, that’s what I did. If it feels right in a few months, I can raise it, but for now, it’s set at fifteen minutes a day.

In Focusing on The Big Rocks, I wrote about putting the big, most important rocks in the jar first to keep the pebbles and sand from taking over. Writing Finding Joy in the East must remain my big rock. What about you? Have you been missing a goal because the bar is too high? Think like a high jumper: start low, build confidence, then raise the bar, but not too high. When it’s too high, we feel defeated. We know we can’t jump that high, so we don’t even try. Try it. Lower the bar. What do you have to lose?

*Photo Kb Wilkey

May 1 2025

My Heart is Full of Joy

My heart is full of joy! I’m still wearing the smile I wore last Monday night at my first book launch back home in Georgia. Yes, the number of friends and family who filled the upstairs room at the Harris Arts Center overwhelmed me. But what really filled my heart with joy was their engagement, enthusiasm, and genuine support. I saw the love in their eyes as I spoke, interrupted myself, lost my train of thought, and bounced from one story to another. They laughed with me, not at me, when I scanned the crowd, recognizing more and more faces.

What I thought might be a nice little get-together turned into something so much more—a celebration of family, friendship, and the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Family and friends from so many of my circles filled the room. Fellow writers, gym buddies, former students and teachers, parents and grandparents of students, and neighbors sat (or stood) listening to me babble about my travels and my childhood dreams to ride my bike and become an author. The love in the room came from my sister Sandi, who, along with my brother, inspired the dream, but also from friends of friends who hadn’t even met me. It was an emotional evening from the moment the first guest walked into the room until I signed the last book over two hours later.

The energy overwhelmed me. Having so many people there made the struggle worth it. Thank you to all who helped to make the launch of Finding Joy in the West a success. And thank you to those who will continue to support me as I write my next book, Finding Joy in the East.

Writing is hard. I have much to learn. But on the flip side, I’m traveling, riding my bike, and writing about people I meet and places I visit. That’s what I have wanted to do since the third grade. I’m living my dream. Riding and writing fill my heart with joy.

So, tell me . . . what fills your heart with joy? What is your dream? Are you living it? If not, figure out what is stopping you and find what fills your heart with joy.

*Photo by David McEntire

April 17 2025

Do You Want to be Remarkable?

Do You Want to Be Remarkable? Last night, I came home soaked—not from rain, but from the firehose of wisdom unleashed by one of my favorite authors, podcasters, and speakers, Jon Acuff. His first-ever Remarkable You event in Franklin, Tennessee, was part pep rally, part group therapy, and part mental CrossFit. Before we even got comfortable in our seats, Jon warned us he was about to blast us with content. He wasn’t exaggerating! I left with 50+ pages of notes, a hand cramp that might need physical therapy, and a heart of joy. Let me share before my brain implodes.

Jon kicked off the event with a question.
“If given the choice, would you choose average over remarkable?”
Jon insists remarkable is a choice. If your answer to his question was “NO,” read on.

Here are a few gold nuggets from the Acuff Mines of Motivation:

Answer the questions, “what do I want, what are my core values, what is my purpose?” Knowing your values and your purpose will drive your action.
Procrastination is when your actions don’t match your intentions. It’s anything that slows, stalls, or stops you from being remarkable.
Surround yourself with people who will make you stretch.
Don’t give gold time to bronze activities.
When your thoughts, feelings, and actions reflect your core values, you have alignment, which gives way to peace and joy.
Make your goals fun.
The way you talk to yourself is eventually how you will talk to others. So, if you wouldn’t say it to your friends, don’t say it to yourself.

Jon Acuff is remarkable. He wants to help others become remarkable, too. He has found a system that works for him, and he believes it will work for others. Telling yourself it’s “no big deal” will help you get started, keep going, and finish. If you believe a task is easy, you’ll do it.

Remarkable asks, “do your actions match your intentions? Does your calendar represent your core values?”

I ask, “do you want to be remarkable?”

If your answer is “Yes,” then get your ticket for April 21, 2026, at the Franklin Theatre for another firehose of golden inspiration from the remarkable Jon Acuff.

Remarkable is waiting. Let’s go get it.

Thanks for being a part of this journey!

If you enjoyed reading this blog, I’d love your support in growing this community! Please share this with your friends, family, or anyone who might find it interesting. Your shares help me reach more people to help them find their joy.

Joy M. Walker

April 3 2025

Finding Joy in the West

Praise the Lord, my book is here. Finding Joy in the West is finally finished. And it could not have happened at a better time. My goal was to have it completed by December 31, 2024, but what joy is there in that? Joy comes from the challenges and the tests of our faith. It’s the climb to the mountaintop that makes the view more special.

And what a climb this has been.

Despite numerous self-imposed deadlines, I finally accepted that the book’s completion depended on God’s timing. However, I was still hoping I would finish it before I left on my trip to the Keys in late January.

As I prepared my rig for departure, a dozen inconveniences tried to stand in my way of getting to the Keys (See Finding Joy in the Challenges).

Once I got to the Keys, the real challenges began. Oh, what joy! Every day proved to be another test of my faith. The biggest test came when the proof copy did not arrive. I’m new to this, but I figured having a book talk/book signing without the books would be like having the wedding without the bride. My publisher placed a rush order, sight unseen. When the proof copy arrived hours later, I found mistakes. Though we’ve fixed them all now, I’m sure many more glaring issues exist. I hope you will forgive me.

Finishing Finding Joy in the West took about two years longer than expected. Then it took three months longer than my “realistic goal.” Life is like that sometimes. We have to keep on keeping on. I challenge you to keep working through the challenges life throws at you. No one told us it would be easy even when one is in the Keys living the Keyzee life. But the joy is greater for the struggle. Do not give up! The joy increases exponentially. In the end, let’s remember that finished is more important than perfect.

Copies arrived in time for my first two book events. And thanks to many, many friends, I now have two Keyzee book talks under my author’s cap. I learned from the process and must say a BIG THANK YOU to all who have supported me in this adventure. Most importantly, I thank God for helping me to not just find joy in the west, but also to find joy in the challenges.

THANK YOU!

*Photo by Vern

Thanks for being a part of this journey!

If you enjoyed reading this blog, I’d love your support in growing this community! Please share this with your friends, family, or anyone who might find it interesting. Your shares help me reach more people to help them find their joy.

Joy M. Walker

March 20 2025

Value-Unique, Not Value-Added

Last week, I had the immense privilege of a personal phone conversation with consultant, speaker, and bestselling author Chip R. Bell. If you don’t know Chip and why I was so excited to talk with him, let me tell you a little about him. Chip R. Bell and the term “value-unique, not value-added” are synonymous. He purports that offering something different, rather than offering something more, is the wave of marketing.

Chip has been speaking and writing about companies, thinking through the lens of customers for decades. Kaleidoscope and Inside Your Customer’s Imagination are his latest books. In them, you will find countless examples of how you can make your customers’ experiences more memorable, more unique.

At Forbes.com, Chip writes fresh articles on the value-unique topic. He encourages businesses, authors, and entrepreneurs to create an element of surprise. Chip’s challenge to companies is to develop a culture that encourages customer loyalty. Make yourself stand out by adding unique value to whatever you are selling.

In our phone conversation, Chip gave me some brilliant suggestions as a new blogger and author. He said a well-written blog is insightful and encouraging, that blogs should have catchy titles, unique graphics that relate to the topic, and include hyperlinks to other bloggers or writers. Blogs should conclude with a call to action. He suggested I write shorter blogs and start a newsletter, mentioning that newsletters should be “newsy,” and informative with lots of graphics and photos.

Chip also suggested entrepreneurs and writers read:

Seth Godin’s blog and books, especially Tribes, and Chip’s favorite, Purple Cow,
Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics by Jackie Huba, and
Sidetracked: Two Women, Two Cameras, and Lunches on Sherman’s Trail by Milam McGraw Propst and Jaclyn Weldon White.

Even though Chip has been teaching the concept of “value-unique versus value-added” for years, this concept is still unique and effective. If you read Chip’s books or articles, or anything he suggested here, please tell me what you learned. Also, if you have an example of a company who practices value-unique strategies, please share it in the comments section. That one comment you share may spark a value-unique idea in someone else.

One more thing:

Chip, along with Beverly Armento (see Beverly Armento A Life of Joy and Resilience), Dan Blanchard, and Patti Phillips, Ph.D., wrote an endorsement for my book. You can see the short version on the back cover of Finding Joy in the West, and the full endorsement on the first page. My book will be available on April 1, 2025 (no joke). Stay tuned for shorter blogs and a Finding Joy newsletter if I can pull those ideas off. As always, thanks for your support. I’d love to hear your value-unique ways to find joy.

March 6 2025

Almost Finished

This is my 50^th blog and I’m excited to announce that Finding Joy in the West: A Quest to Ride My Bike in All Fifty States, is almost finished. My first blog was about meeting Jane Friedman in June 2023. I had just finished writing the first draft of Finding Joy. In my naivety I thought my book was almost finished. A year later, when I submitted the eighth draft to my editor, again, I thought it was almost finished. I was so excited, I had a party and wrote blog 32, Join the Movement, about celebrating the near completion of my book.

Then in January 2025, as I wrote Lessons from the Writing Process, I thought the book was finished. Draft thirteen was complete, yet I learned it had miles to go. The first week of February began a ping pong match with my book cover designer and my publisher. The cover I thought was almost finished, still needed many tweaks. And, the manuscript, when converted into a PDF required an infinite number of edits. Mostly the edits were spacing and compatibility issues. However, we also found misplaced words, verb tense mistakes, and spelling errors.

I am sharing all this with you because I’m certain you have had a project, or a goal, that took longer to complete than you could have ever imagined. A “simple” bathroom remodel can take months longer than scheduled. Losing weight and paying down debt always takes more effort and time than we would like. Projects and goals tax our patience and endurance. This book has stretched me and challenged my faith more than I could have known. But I’m learning it is in the persistence and in overcoming the challenges that I find joy.

As of the writing of this blog, Finding Joy in the West has been submitted for publication. That means, it’s time to schedule book launches and book signings because it is almost finished. Book promotions and whatever else needs to be done before the books can be sold will start taking priority.

Yet, as important as the book promotion is, I still need to focus on writing Finding Joy in the East, and the next 50 blogs, plus journaling about what is happening in the Keys. You never know, I may one day decide to write Finding Joy in Florida. In writing Finding Joy, I am finding joy in the process. There will always be another blog, another book to write, and that brings me joy. I hope you too find joy in overcoming challenges as you work toward reaching your goals.

From those of you who have read all 50 blogs, to those who are just joining me, I say, “Thank you.” Your support through this journey means more than I can express in words. And to all of you who are planning to buy Finding Joy in the West, stay tuned for its release. When I receive my first box and when it is available on Amazon and other online retailers, I will post it here and on Facebook and Instagram. (I may also be found shouting it from the roof of my motorhome.)

As I conclude my 50^th blog, I want to leave you with the wisdom of three of my favorite authors. If you are struggling with a project, or weight loss, or paying down debt, or a goal that seems unreachable, don’t quit. Jesus said, in Luke 18 to “always pray and not give up.” Listen to Andy Andrews who says, “persist without exception.” And to Jon Acuff who wrote in his book Finish, “Quit trying to make it perfect. The opposite of perfect is not failure, it’s finished.” And since finish is my word for the year, I’m looking forward to the day that I can tell you, not, “my book is almost finished,” but “my book is finished.” And more than that, I look forward to hearing your stories of finished.

Thanks for being a part of this journey!

If you enjoyed reading this blog, I’d love your support in growing this community! Please share this with your friends, family, or anyone who might find it interesting. Your shares help me reach more people to help them find their joy.

Joy M. Walker