Happiness

Happiness

He that handles a matter wisely shall find good: and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he. Proverbs 16:20

Something my mother and I would do this time of year would be to bundle up and go to the beach to feed the seagulls. It didn't matter what was going on in our lives at the time, we would lose ourselves in the fun and joy of it. But best of all was to sit in the car, looking at the ocean with my mother and having wonderful talks. We both talked and both listened to each other. A great time of sharing time and love.

It has been said that happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. You know if you have it or not. You can walk into a room and sense the environment and immediately know if it exists there.

What is happiness? The dictionary says, “pleasure, contentment and joy”. And laughter often means the presence of happiness. Look at a child who gets tickled about something and laughs over and over again. They are sharing their pleasure. However, some folks believe they don’t have anything to laugh or be happy about. They may look to life for what it can give them. Happiness wouldn’t carry the weight it does if we didn’t experience the down times too. Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be”.  And that speaks to all of our circumstances, whether we are up or down. It is considered to be one of the most worth-while things is to do to put happiness into the lives of others. Proverbs 11:25 says “Who refreshes others will be refreshed”. So when we are seeking that sweet spot of happiness for ourselves, we must first do for others under God’s direction. It is there that we will find the spiritual contentment known as happiness.