Happiness - Putting it all Together (Part 6)

Part 1: How Can You Find Happiness?
Part 2: What is Happiness?
Part 3: Why Can't I Just Be.....Happy?
Part 4: Journey To Happiness
Part 5: True Happiness


Now, let's go back to our first two exercises. In the first one, you thought about all the activities you are involved in. Think again about the ones you dread, hate or are just plain tired of. List them in your mind. Now - eliminate them. Don't feel guilty - it's time for a change! Console yourself with the realization that you were not doing a good job anyway. Everyone could tell how much you hated it (trust me) and all you probably did was bring everybody else down as well as yourself. You are doing them a favor by becoming uninvolved. Now, recall those things you actually enjoy. Got 'em in your mind? Okay - do them. Then find more ways to use those things to help other people. Enjoy singing? Continue singing in the church choir and maybe at a senior citizen's home or in more state or national conventions. Bless others with your gift. Enjoy writing? Continue writing for yourself, but branch out to write positive and uplifting letters to others or write uplifting poems, plays or skits that will help other people feel better about themselves or their lives. Enjoy riding a bike? Find other people who are not as skilled as you and bring them along. Start a bike riding club and reach out to people who are lonely or are trying to lose weight, or, anyone! Keep doing what you enjoy for yourself, but make sure you reach out to include other people in those activities as well. Focusing on helping others increases your own happiness exponentially! Even if you can't help everyone, you can certainly reach out to at least one person.

Next, let's revisit the second exercise, where you thought about what happiness meant to you. What came to mind when you visualized 'happiness'? A better car, a brand-new house, or a new (or better-acting!) spouse? A dream vacation or job? Intangibles, like greater faith, greater hope, more trust in God? I hope that a better relationship with God and greater spiritual growth were items on that list, because everything else will only bring you temporary satisfaction. Let me tell you a hard-won truth - having a lot of money, a good man or woman, a great job or a brand new car are not the keys to happiness. Those things are great, but they are not 'it'. Simple truth - if you are not happy with yourself and who you are right now, no thing and no person will bring you that satisfaction. Studies have shown that once a person reaches a financial level where all basic needs are met, satisfaction only increases incrementally. But you already know this. Think back to when you started your first job. You're probably living much better now than then - you've bought or are renting a nice place, you have more than two suits to your name, you have a few 'toys', and you've traveled to a few exotic places. But you're not any happier than you were then (unless you've built a relationship with God). And none of these 'things' has had the power to give you more than a very temporary satisfaction. You need to be happy with yourself. First. And that will translate to greater satisfaction with your friends, your family, your job and your chosen profession.

So - now you get a chance to work on yourself! Since you have to fix yourself first in order to attain true happiness, take time now and do it. Find out what that gnawing sense of dissatisfaction, your bad attitude, your longing to 'get away from it all' is really all about. Did you have a tough childhood and need to deal with some unresolved anger or pain? Are you still angry at your dad for abandoning your family when you were little? Do you feel dissatisfied because you never finished college or are stuck in a low-paying, unfulfilling job? Did you settle for being a lawyer, when you really wanted to be an entrepreneurial wizard? Who are you living your life trying to please? You or all the people around you who have so much to say about what you choose to do? Focus on yourself. Figure out what you really need to feel a deep-seated sense of satisfaction in your life. Focus on those things that you can change. Re-evaluate your life in terms of what's important to you. Pray about it. In the Bible, it says to 'delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart (Psalms 37:4)' That means that not only will He give you what you desire, He will place His own desires in your heart. He will give you those desires that most please Him. Trust me. If you ask Him, He will.

Religion, Spirituality, Christian, Christianity, Self-Help, Advice