The Habit of Happiness
Monday, January 1, 2024
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Prov. 17:22, NIV
Happiness is an illusive butterfly. If pursued directly, it flits away beyond our reach. But if we sit down contented with what we have, it’s likely to perch on our shoulder. Perhaps that’s why only 10 to 15 percent of Americans consider themselves truly happy.
As John Powell (author of Happiness Is an Inside Job) puts it, happiness “is not like putting so many coins into a happiness - dispensing machine. Then suddenly out comes the candy bar of happiness!” Happiness, he says, is an inside job. To the extent we think our happiness will come from outside things or other persons, our dreams are destined to die. The sad fact is that almost half of all first marriages end in divorce, as do 65 percent of all second marriages! Disillusion always seems to follow when we expect someone (like a spouse or friend) or something (such as fame or fortune) to make us happy.
Yet we are all capable of acquiring the habit of happiness, regardless of the depressing world in which we live. When we watch television and see what’s happening around us—child and spousal abuse, chemical dependency, teenage pregnancy, gangs, bulging prisons, wars, AIDS—it is not surprising that the World Health Organization has singled out depression as the world’s most widespread disease. One third of all Americans wake up depressed every day. But you don’t have to be one of them!
Are you happy with your work? This may be the most important question one can ask that relates to life expectancy. If you are not happy with your work, you should either get happy with it or change your job.
Are you happy at home? Invite Christ in. “With Jesus in the family, happy, happy home.”
Are you happy with yourself? You can become the person you and God want you to become. But regardless, Jesus still loves you. Why shouldn’t you like yourself if God already does?
So as we begin our journey together to a more vibrant life, I wish you a happy new year. Not just today or during the month of January, but all through the year and until Jesus comes again. Choose happiness and live!
Choose happiness. Resolve to replace every negative thought with thoughts of God’s blessings. You can have a happy new year!
Happiness is an illusive butterfly. If pursued directly, it flits away beyond our reach. But if we sit down contented with what we have, it’s likely to perch on our shoulder. Perhaps that’s why only 10 to 15 percent of Americans consider themselves truly happy.
As John Powell (author of Happiness Is an Inside Job) puts it, happiness “is not like putting so many coins into a happiness - dispensing machine. Then suddenly out comes the candy bar of happiness!” Happiness, he says, is an inside job. To the extent we think our happiness will come from outside things or other persons, our dreams are destined to die. The sad fact is that almost half of all first marriages end in divorce, as do 65 percent of all second marriages! Disillusion always seems to follow when we expect someone (like a spouse or friend) or something (such as fame or fortune) to make us happy.
Yet we are all capable of acquiring the habit of happiness, regardless of the depressing world in which we live. When we watch television and see what’s happening around us—child and spousal abuse, chemical dependency, teenage pregnancy, gangs, bulging prisons, wars, AIDS—it is not surprising that the World Health Organization has singled out depression as the world’s most widespread disease. One third of all Americans wake up depressed every day. But you don’t have to be one of them!
Are you happy with your work? This may be the most important question one can ask that relates to life expectancy. If you are not happy with your work, you should either get happy with it or change your job.
Are you happy at home? Invite Christ in. “With Jesus in the family, happy, happy home.”
Are you happy with yourself? You can become the person you and God want you to become. But regardless, Jesus still loves you. Why shouldn’t you like yourself if God already does?
So as we begin our journey together to a more vibrant life, I wish you a happy new year. Not just today or during the month of January, but all through the year and until Jesus comes again. Choose happiness and live!
Choose happiness. Resolve to replace every negative thought with thoughts of God’s blessings. You can have a happy new year!
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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