Happy

Take a moment and think about what makes you happy.  There are millions of things in life that make us happy if we take the time to recognize them. 

Have you ever heard the saying, “stop and smell the roses”?  It has been a popular saying for a long time.  However, as it often happens, a saying becomes cliché because of its popularity, and then it becomes unpopular because it is cliché. 

Cliché or not, “stop and smell the roses” is actually good advice.  The gist of the statement is that we should take time to appreciate the good things in our lives.  Even something as simple as smelling a rose, can make us happy if we stop long enough to appreciate it. 

Sometimes, amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we forget to “smell the roses”.  Our busy schedules distract us from recognizing the good things that we have.  Chances are we are surrounded by fields of roses, but we may be walking past them without taking the time to appreciate them.  Another consequence of our busy schedules is thinking that we do not have the time to “smell the roses”.  There are so many demands on our time and energy that we can feel overwhelmed and find our thinking engulfed by those demands.  Either of these scenarios could rob us of experiencing peaceful happy moments that would actually help us cope with our busy schedules. 

When we take time to value the small things, we build a habit pattern of appreciation that can extend to other aspects of our lives.  Consider the people we love.  Family members often make us happy, but it is not uncommon to take one another for granted.  I think this happens because people confuse contentment and complacency.  Contentment leads to happiness because you are no longer searching for something you don’t have.  Complacency leads to dissatisfaction because you don’t appreciate what you do have.  When we appreciate our families, we can be content and happy.  And when we show our appreciation, our families will also be content and happy. 

We must remember that happiness requires some effort on our part.  It requires us to direct our thinking toward a positive focus.  When it comes to relationships, we must focus on each other’s positive qualities and not on the negative ones.  We encourage one another by sincerely appreciating each other’s positive qualities, and by exhorting each other to more worthy endeavors.  Dwelling on someone’s faults never helps anyone – ever!  In other aspects, it is also necessary to maintain a positive outlook.  When you see the roses, expect them to smell good.  And if you come across one that doesn’t, move on!  There will be others with remarkable fragrances. 

We can also benefit from being happy in our surroundings.  Things always take second place to people in our lives, but things can be a source of happiness if we appreciate them.  When it comes to the things with which we are surrounded, the Bible encourages us to be good stewards.  This means that we take care of our things.  Not because we ‘love’ them, but because we are not wasteful.  Our society has become a ‘disposable’ society.  It seems that the school of thought is, “If you don’t like something, throw it away and get a bigger better one”.  Not only is this wasteful, but it is also driven by covetousness.  People get trapped in the snare of thinking that they must have the newest, biggest, best, most expensive things to be happy, which of course makes them unhappy with the things they already have.  This kind of thinking produces anxiety and discontent, and it is a lie. 

Sometimes we are unhappy with ourselves.  Many of us are overly critical of ourselves.  We (especially women) can be unhappy with our appearance.  Just about all of us are critical of our own abilities and/or accomplishments.  I often find myself thinking about me in ways that I would never think about anyone else.  BUT the habit pattern of appreciation covers this category as well.  See your own value in the small things, then you’ll be able to see it in the big things too.  All of us have positive qualities and we all have something to offer.  Appreciate yourself for who you are and what you have to give. 

I saved the greatest happiness for last.  The best and most enduring source of happiness is God’s Word.  God has given us holy spirit and in Galatians chapter 5 (verse 22) it says that one fruit of that spirit is joy.  We have joy in us that the world cannot give.  Our joy supersedes any happiness that the world can deliver.  However, that doesn’t mean that God wants us to be unhappy in the world.  He’s the one that made the roses for us to smell!  He called us to His family because it pleased Him.  With His great love, He provides for us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think!  (Ephesians 3:20)  He promised us an abundant life in all categories.  That makes me happy!  How about you? 

When we appreciate God’s handiwork in our surroundings and in the people in our lives, we can rid ourselves of the anxiety and strife that makes us unhappy.  When we are happy, we are able to make others happy, and when we do that, we are even happier!  It’s a beautiful cycle. 

Note to my readers:  Some synonyms for happy are; joyful cheerful, blissful, glad, pleased, ecstatic, delighted, and blessed!  You can be all those things!   Thanks for reading.