Happiness is a word that we constantly hear and talk about; it even acts as the driving motivator behind most of the things we do. But if a friend comes to us and asks us this question, “Are you happy?”, we usually need to think hard before we can honestly answer it. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to tell someone that we are happy, or even to figure out whether we really are? It’s probably because we all usually have so many problems and worries running through our heads that we forget what it means to be truly happy.
Small gestures of kindness or love, such as a loved one randomly giving us our favourite chocolate, put a smile on our face and make us happy. But we may forget this the very next moment, if a tense situation arises at home, or college, or at work. Why is happiness so temporary and fleeting, gone before we can even fully relish it?
This may be because we are trying to find happiness in all the wrong places. The Bible says that we are created to be joyful beings, and the source of such lasting joy is in the Creator Himself. All that is needed to find this joy in our lives is to enter into a relationship with Him. When we receive this joy that God gives, happiness stops being dependent on external circumstances, and we find ourselves being positive even in the toughest of times. More importantly, we become capable of being a channel of this received joy for the people in our lives, rather than constantly only thinking about ourselves.
On this International day of Happiness, let’s decide to turn to this person who can fill our lives with lasting joy, so that we can choose to rejoice in all circumstances, and also impart this joy with many around us.
So true!