Countless individuals live out
their lives postponing happiness for someday in the
future when they have achieved their goals for success.
Associating happiness with reaching milestones for success can
cause a lifetime of disillusionment and unhappiness. It is
undeniable that joy is produced whenever someone uses their
creativity to complete a project which is an expression of their
unique contribution. Happiness can only be experienced in
the present. Postponing happiness for someday is
like saying that today I have nothing to be happy about so I
will endure and suffer until I create the perfect conditions which will
allow me to be happy. Often someday never arrives.
It is not unusual that by the time someday does finally arrive,
one's definition of the perfect conditions for happiness is no
longer the same. True happiness is not merely a
function of circumstances.
True happiness begins in the
mind. It comes from realizing that one is loved by God.
It comes through studying the word of God. It comes from
accepting oneself and others. It comes through serving and
contributing to others in ways large and small. It comes
from living a moral life of goodness and purity as taught by the
world's religions. It comes from following one's
conscience and rejecting temptations which compromise universal
moral principles. Happiness comes from meaningful
relationships and establishing a family which is centered on
God's love. Happiness comes from being at peace with one's
surroundings.
Having access to happiness in
one's daily life is not a complicated matter or something
limited only to certain fortunate individuals. Manifesting
happiness can be as simple as making the authentic declaration
"I am happy." The foundation for making authentic
declarations begins when one constitutes oneself as one's word
by declaring "I am my word" and honoring one's word as oneself
as a way of life. Being one's word in action is a
discipline which can be gauged by evaluating one's integrity or
the degree to which one's actions are consistent with their
promises and declarations. Being happy is but one of a
multitude of possibilities of being which anyone can
create or invent by way of declaration and commitment.
Other examples include being loving, being satisfied, being
caring, being patient, being trustworthy, etc. Just as God
created the universe with the word ("In the beginning was the
word..."), human beings were created in God's image and likeness
and are able to create possibilities of being through
declaration. As God's children, we are created to be the
author of our own happiness in relationship with God and our
fellow human beings.
It is not necessary to achieve
a particular goal for one's own success to experience being
happy. In fact, the happiness most people do experience
from reaching goals for success is often fleeting--lasting only
a short time. The key to discovering happiness is the
achieving the awareness that as human beings we have a voice
concerning the quality of our own lives including who we are being
in any circumstance in each and every moment. What matters
most is connecting our life with that which is eternal and
everlasting. Finding God and discovering His heart of
eager longing to be reunited with His Children opens a pathway
for living an adventurous life of true love. True
happiness is a function of living unselfishly with a higher
purpose such that our conscience is one with our actions moment
by moment. Heaven is not a place to go to after this
physical life is over but that which we are meant to experience
here and now. Living life
such that one is the author of one's own experience centered on
God's love requires
vision, commitment, determination, dedication, discipline, intentionality,
persistence, and passion for
the extraordinary. The reward of living such a life is the
opportunity of making a difference to others and living a life
that you love in constant companionship with God.
