I recently read a quote from Thomas Edison that basicallysaid only the most insincere person calls himself happy.
Whoa! Someone as creative, accomplished and wealthy as Mr.Edison said when you scratch beneath the surface, no one is really happy? How can that be true?
He explained that even those people we'd assume to be happystill live wanting something. Putanother way, as one of my husband's favorite quotes go - We have a choice: wecan be deluded, we can live addicted to something (anything from sports todrugs) or we can live with an ache. (From the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.) I guess Mr. Eldredge has something incommon with Mr. Edison.
I consider myself a basically happy person, and I believethat's the façade I impart to others. My needs of health and security are meton a daily basis, for which I am grateful to both God and my husband. But likeanyone who lives and breathes and is old enough to have acquired a littlediscernment, if you look beneath the surface of course there are things thatcan make me profoundly sad.
I've always said God didn't create us for our own happiness.We're a natural reflection of His glory, simply because each one of us is amiracle. The Bible says He's pleased when what we do reflects Him and His love, so wecan point others toward His love. But the Bible doesn't say anything about having beencreated for us to fill our own desires.
God created us as complex creatures. I'm not sure we're evermeant to experience just one emotion for any length of time. We can be happyfor a season, or we can be sad. Sometimes, somehow, we can be both at the sametime.
I do think there are ways we can improve our happinessquotient. Here are some ways I "practice" happiness:
I reflect on the things God has done—for me. Beyond salvation, those things in my life that bring mecloser to Him. Even with the ache I live with, having Fragile X in my life,I've seen God bringing me closer to Him through the experience. (See the Blessings song at the bottom of last Monday's post!)Reflect on how God coordinates the details of my life. Heoften wants to teach or help me and I'll start hearing a "theme" from unrelateddirections: my pastor will talk about a topic that happens to fit what I'mworking on in my stories, or I'll hear a song that aptly ministers or helps meto define some emotion or challenge I'm facing. Or I'll be reading the Bibleand something that fits so perfectly to my situation jumps off the page. OrI'll hear a news story, or someone will mention something to me that fits aneed. Coincidence? Or God's coordination?I look at creation; without a single word spoken, creation revealsthe love of our creative and powerful God.I try to eat right and exercise. Believe it or not, thisreally does make a difference in so many areas of life. Sometimes just taking abrisk walk can improve my mood.I let music or a book or a movie minister to me. Sometimesescaping for a few hours is exactly what I need.Pray. I ask God what He wants me to learn, and for Him to help mehand over my worries to Him.Helping someone else almost always improves my mood.Work on something I love, which fortunately for me is what Iget to do with my days, and that's to write.
These are just some of the things that come to mind for me,but there are many other sources of happiness that life provides. I hope youcan take a moment to ponder what makes you happy, and then have a happy day!