In my talking with people almost everyday about their lives and what they want out of their lives, I seem to have discovered a fairly consistent theme.  Most everyone I talk with eventually gets around to saying something like this:  “All I really want in this life is to just be happy!”

I think most everyone wants to be happy, or at least we say we want to be happy.  But not everyone is willing to do what they need to do to be happy.  Many of us have watched someone else live a very unhappy life, when we could plainly see all of the reasons they had to be living a happy life.  We could see it, but they could not.  What’s the old saying?  “Some people can’t see the forest for the trees!”

For the next few days, I am going to be writing about happiness.  We are going to try to discover what it is and some of the steps that we can take to get our lives to a place where we can experience it.

President Abraham Lincoln said:  “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be!”  I think he was onto something.  One of the problems that a lot of us have with not experiencing happiness, is our definitions.  We have all kinds of different definitions of happiness and the problem is not so much our different definitions, but the challenge they present us, when we are trying to figure out what it is that will really make us happy.

For most happiness is based on what we don’t have that we are trying to get, but the truth that we all know deep in our heart – is that happiness is about much more than that.  We are always striving, but only every now and then obtaining and the big things that gets in the way of our happiness is often our own opinion or the opinion of others.

Our thoughts betray us and so what we really need is wisdom.  Wisdom to choose the right thoughts that will lead and open our life to happiness.  In James 1:5-6 is says:  “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

God will provide, but you have to receive!  More on how to do that tomorrow!  Blessings!