I love this prayer.
I never would have added, "shield the joyous" to my own prayer... but isn't it so honest?
I think part of growing older for me has been seeing the other "stuff" and wondering how I'll ever get back to "joyous" again.
Now that I have the awareness of this issue, perhaps I can work with God to do something to help me get back to "joyous" as an emotion/feeling/state of being again.
Oh, and Amen.
♥ Melody