“There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life—happiness, freedom, and
peace of mind—are always attained by giving them to someone
else.”~ Peyton C. March
Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Receive in the giving
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Are you giving?
“We think we are not happy because of what we are not getting.
But really, we are unhappy because of what we are not giving!”
~ Marianne Williamson
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Happiness with fewer things
Great article in The Christian Science Monitor, Wednesday, December 3, titled “Want less, spend less—wealth is relative to desire.”
In these times of tight budgets and shrinking income for many, people struggle to maintain their consumption status quo, and it just doesn’t work.
Author Diane Cameron, sorts out many of the issues and explains that “Wealth is relative to desire. Everytime we yearn for something we can’t afford, we become poor—regardless of our resources. It’s when we are satisfied with what we have, that we become rich.”
She continues, “What we need is less desire, not more money.”
It’s a quick read and full of insight.
In these times of tight budgets and shrinking income for many, people struggle to maintain their consumption status quo, and it just doesn’t work.
Author Diane Cameron, sorts out many of the issues and explains that “Wealth is relative to desire. Everytime we yearn for something we can’t afford, we become poor—regardless of our resources. It’s when we are satisfied with what we have, that we become rich.”
She continues, “What we need is less desire, not more money.”
It’s a quick read and full of insight.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Do you have happy thoughts?
"A happy face does not come by chance.
It comes by happy thoughts."
It comes by happy thoughts."
~ Unknown
Friday, August 1, 2008
Are you paying attention?
"If you aren't happy in the here and now--You aren't paying attention."
~Unknown
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Does money make you happy?
Now here’s a new angle on what makes us happy that I hadn’t read before.
An opinion piece in The Christian Science Monitor titled, “Does money make you happy?” by Arthur Brooks, claims that feeling successful is more closely related to happiness than having lots of money.
One can have a wad of cash, but if they don’t feel successful in their work, they’re less likely to be happy than someone who has little wealth but feels very successful in what they do, Brooks contends.
Of course, I thought, this explains why so many people who have modest wealth, still live a very happy satisfied life.
It’s not about the money. It’s about a feeling of completeness, wholeness, spiritual worth and value lived and demonstrated. We feel good when we are successful at our work, assuming the work is something we love to do in the first place.
Brooks points out that we should not compromise the work we do for money, because we’re probably sacrificing happiness too. Money gained cannot measure the success we feel when we build a strong family, grow spiritually, and nurture friendships. Money is a poor measure of true success, and should not be confused as such.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the article. You might too.
An opinion piece in The Christian Science Monitor titled, “Does money make you happy?” by Arthur Brooks, claims that feeling successful is more closely related to happiness than having lots of money.
One can have a wad of cash, but if they don’t feel successful in their work, they’re less likely to be happy than someone who has little wealth but feels very successful in what they do, Brooks contends.
Of course, I thought, this explains why so many people who have modest wealth, still live a very happy satisfied life.
It’s not about the money. It’s about a feeling of completeness, wholeness, spiritual worth and value lived and demonstrated. We feel good when we are successful at our work, assuming the work is something we love to do in the first place.
Brooks points out that we should not compromise the work we do for money, because we’re probably sacrificing happiness too. Money gained cannot measure the success we feel when we build a strong family, grow spiritually, and nurture friendships. Money is a poor measure of true success, and should not be confused as such.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the article. You might too.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
"Into the wild"
Have you seen the movie, “Into the wild?”
I just watched it, and found it to be one of the most thought provoking films I’ve seen in a long time. It’s based on a true story.
Young Christopher McCandless graduates from Emory University, with top grades and a bright future ahead of him, but decides he doesn’t want to pursue a traditional career, or even law school at Harvard. He gives away his $24,000 in savings to charity and sets out on a lone odyssey to find true happiness.
Raised in a turbulent home, and by parents who loved him, but didn’t teach him what love was, and perhaps were not equipped to, Chris saw no reason to stay connected with his family and be part of their lives. He deserts them, justified by the belief that they deserted him in many ways.
While hitchhiking across the country, he forms some touching and caring relationships with a few people along the way. But he is determined to go to Alaska, and live in the wilderness on his own. Relationships are not what people need, he tells an older gentleman whom he befriended.
Christopher figures he can find happiness and completeness in the wild where there is no competition from daily demands of work, earn, buy and pay.
He makes into the deep outback of the Alaska wilderness, alone, and finds an old bus furnished with a woodstove to camp out in. He’s in wilderness heaven! Over the next three months he revels in the pristine purity and majesty of his surroundings, makes notes in his diary and ponders life lessons.
When it’s time to leave, he discovers a stream he crossed in the spring has become a huge river that he cannot cross. He’s stuck. He cannot return. He goes back to the bus. He has no food. He is starving, and in desperation begins living off of plants. But unfortunately, he eats a poisonous plant, and falls very ill. In his great trial of suffering, alone with no one to help, and in lonely circumstances of his own creating, some life lessons come into focus.
Among those lessons, he jots into his diary the words,
I’m jolted by his observation. It’s almost exactly what Mary Baker Eddy wrote over 100 years ago, when she penned,
I loved Chris' revelation! It rang so true for me.
Happiness is not a selfish enterprise. It is not something we find alone. Yes, it is spiritual, and we find it with God, but it helps to know that it’s also spiritual to love others freely and share the joys of Life with them. A spiritual life is not a materially lonely life. A spiritual life is an activity of engagement, discourse and spiritual discussion. Christopher did not find this in the wilderness, and his solo flight away from all of society left him lonelier than ever.
Some people have thought Mary Baker Eddy lived a lonely life because she stayed home oftentimes, penning her works and praying for the world. But this belief couldn’t be further from the truth. She was constantly engaged with citizens of the world. She ran a household of up to 25 staffers. She answered dozens of letters each day, with the help of secretaries. Eddy was constantly engaged with the public, people and thinkers around the world. She was an excellent model, for her time, on how one could find the time and space needed to grow spiritually as individuals, but also still be actively engaged with neighbors.
Aside from that diversion in discussion...
The ending of the movie leaves the viewer greatly sobered by Christopher’s experience. He comes to know himself better, and instead of mentally running away from everything he dislikes in the world, he begins to acknowledge the good already in place.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget Chris’ words,
Perhaps, that’s what this blog is all about…
I just watched it, and found it to be one of the most thought provoking films I’ve seen in a long time. It’s based on a true story.
Young Christopher McCandless graduates from Emory University, with top grades and a bright future ahead of him, but decides he doesn’t want to pursue a traditional career, or even law school at Harvard. He gives away his $24,000 in savings to charity and sets out on a lone odyssey to find true happiness.
Raised in a turbulent home, and by parents who loved him, but didn’t teach him what love was, and perhaps were not equipped to, Chris saw no reason to stay connected with his family and be part of their lives. He deserts them, justified by the belief that they deserted him in many ways.
While hitchhiking across the country, he forms some touching and caring relationships with a few people along the way. But he is determined to go to Alaska, and live in the wilderness on his own. Relationships are not what people need, he tells an older gentleman whom he befriended.
Christopher figures he can find happiness and completeness in the wild where there is no competition from daily demands of work, earn, buy and pay.
He makes into the deep outback of the Alaska wilderness, alone, and finds an old bus furnished with a woodstove to camp out in. He’s in wilderness heaven! Over the next three months he revels in the pristine purity and majesty of his surroundings, makes notes in his diary and ponders life lessons.
When it’s time to leave, he discovers a stream he crossed in the spring has become a huge river that he cannot cross. He’s stuck. He cannot return. He goes back to the bus. He has no food. He is starving, and in desperation begins living off of plants. But unfortunately, he eats a poisonous plant, and falls very ill. In his great trial of suffering, alone with no one to help, and in lonely circumstances of his own creating, some life lessons come into focus.
Among those lessons, he jots into his diary the words,
“Happiness is not real, unless shared.”
I’m jolted by his observation. It’s almost exactly what Mary Baker Eddy wrote over 100 years ago, when she penned,
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.” Science and Health
I loved Chris' revelation! It rang so true for me.
Happiness is not a selfish enterprise. It is not something we find alone. Yes, it is spiritual, and we find it with God, but it helps to know that it’s also spiritual to love others freely and share the joys of Life with them. A spiritual life is not a materially lonely life. A spiritual life is an activity of engagement, discourse and spiritual discussion. Christopher did not find this in the wilderness, and his solo flight away from all of society left him lonelier than ever.
Some people have thought Mary Baker Eddy lived a lonely life because she stayed home oftentimes, penning her works and praying for the world. But this belief couldn’t be further from the truth. She was constantly engaged with citizens of the world. She ran a household of up to 25 staffers. She answered dozens of letters each day, with the help of secretaries. Eddy was constantly engaged with the public, people and thinkers around the world. She was an excellent model, for her time, on how one could find the time and space needed to grow spiritually as individuals, but also still be actively engaged with neighbors.
Aside from that diversion in discussion...
The ending of the movie leaves the viewer greatly sobered by Christopher’s experience. He comes to know himself better, and instead of mentally running away from everything he dislikes in the world, he begins to acknowledge the good already in place.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget Chris’ words,
“Happiness is not real, unless shared.”It captured the essence of my whole experience with Christian Science. I can’t keep its joys to myself, for if I do, they die. But when I share, they come alive!
Perhaps, that’s what this blog is all about…
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Freedom from having to get
Have you ever wanted something so badly that the object of your desire constantly occupied your thought and attention?
Maybe you wanted more income, a new car, another place to live, a date, a new LCD TV, a different job, a vacation, some respect, attention from others,…and the list could go on and on…
One rule for life I’ve learned over the years is that the thing we think we need is not as important as we think it is at the time.
It’s interesting how the human mind can get so mesmerized into thinking it needs something and can’t “live without it,” only to discover in due time, that happiness could be had just as easily without the wished for thing.
I’m not talking about necessities such as food and clothing, issues which billions of people struggle with in many parts of the world. That’s a whole different topic. I’m talking about feeling need when there is no need.
In the developed countries, where
consumer goods abound and there is ready access to stuff, stuff and more stuff, people often get educated into believing they need more stuff to be happy.
My wife and I deal with this in raising our kids. Their friends have many toys and things that they do not have. And they come home and tell us about this stuff, hinting that every child should have it too, including them! Right? Wrong…
This doesn’t happen very often in our household, but when it does, we’re quick to point out that true happiness doesn’t come from all the things one might own. True joy is spiritual, and comes from feeling close to God.
Many parents might think this type of reasoning is “fantasy talk,” and won’t resonate with teenagers. But I totally disagree. It does resonate, and it works. Want and selfishness might resist at first, but if the parent is clear in their own thought that the spiritual is more important than the material, the message will get through. The child will follow the parent’s lead.
And the same rule applies to us adults as well. If you watch much TV and read many magazines, the message of “Buy this. You need it!” is felt and heard everywhere. We have to consciously resist the temptation to think we need all these things to be happy. We don’t. In fact, acquiring all the stuff can lead to greater unhappiness, because it cultivates a mindset of want, rather than a feeling of contentment and satisfaction.
There is great freedom in not wanting stuff. Letting go of a cherished desire can lift a huge burden out of consciousness that we didn’t realize was even there. Even simple acceptances like, “I don’t need that new jacket. I don’t need to eat out this week. I don’t have to read this clothing catalog,” are uplifting.
The greatest freedom doesn’t come from what we buy, but from knowing what we are—complete, whole children of God, already in full possession of the greatest assets Life has to offer—an ever-expanding knowledge of Truth and Love!
Enjoy your God-given freedom today to be happy without stuff. It’s a lot easier on your pocketbook!
Maybe you wanted more income, a new car, another place to live, a date, a new LCD TV, a different job, a vacation, some respect, attention from others,…and the list could go on and on…
One rule for life I’ve learned over the years is that the thing we think we need is not as important as we think it is at the time.
It’s interesting how the human mind can get so mesmerized into thinking it needs something and can’t “live without it,” only to discover in due time, that happiness could be had just as easily without the wished for thing.
I’m not talking about necessities such as food and clothing, issues which billions of people struggle with in many parts of the world. That’s a whole different topic. I’m talking about feeling need when there is no need.
In the developed countries, where
consumer goods abound and there is ready access to stuff, stuff and more stuff, people often get educated into believing they need more stuff to be happy.My wife and I deal with this in raising our kids. Their friends have many toys and things that they do not have. And they come home and tell us about this stuff, hinting that every child should have it too, including them! Right? Wrong…
This doesn’t happen very often in our household, but when it does, we’re quick to point out that true happiness doesn’t come from all the things one might own. True joy is spiritual, and comes from feeling close to God.
Many parents might think this type of reasoning is “fantasy talk,” and won’t resonate with teenagers. But I totally disagree. It does resonate, and it works. Want and selfishness might resist at first, but if the parent is clear in their own thought that the spiritual is more important than the material, the message will get through. The child will follow the parent’s lead.
And the same rule applies to us adults as well. If you watch much TV and read many magazines, the message of “Buy this. You need it!” is felt and heard everywhere. We have to consciously resist the temptation to think we need all these things to be happy. We don’t. In fact, acquiring all the stuff can lead to greater unhappiness, because it cultivates a mindset of want, rather than a feeling of contentment and satisfaction.
There is great freedom in not wanting stuff. Letting go of a cherished desire can lift a huge burden out of consciousness that we didn’t realize was even there. Even simple acceptances like, “I don’t need that new jacket. I don’t need to eat out this week. I don’t have to read this clothing catalog,” are uplifting.
The greatest freedom doesn’t come from what we buy, but from knowing what we are—complete, whole children of God, already in full possession of the greatest assets Life has to offer—an ever-expanding knowledge of Truth and Love!
Enjoy your God-given freedom today to be happy without stuff. It’s a lot easier on your pocketbook!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Decide to be happy
A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home. His wife of 70 years had recently passed, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, his aide provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged. It depends upon my attitude, and I’ve already decided that I’m going to love it. “
The aide took Mr. Jones to his new room, and the gentleman happily settled into his new quarters.
I love this story because it is a vivid reminder of the spiritual nature of happiness. It’s not the furniture in our room that brings joy, but the furniture in our thought. The more inspired our thinking, the easier it is to be happy under any number of different circumstances.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, his aide provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged. It depends upon my attitude, and I’ve already decided that I’m going to love it. “
The aide took Mr. Jones to his new room, and the gentleman happily settled into his new quarters.
I love this story because it is a vivid reminder of the spiritual nature of happiness. It’s not the furniture in our room that brings joy, but the furniture in our thought. The more inspired our thinking, the easier it is to be happy under any number of different circumstances.
“If you wish to be happy, argue with yourself on the side of happiness; take the side you wish to carry, and be careful not to talk on both sides, or to argue stronger for sorrow than for joy. You are the attorney for the case, and will win or lose according to your plea.”
Christian Healing, by Mary Baker Eddy
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Rules for happiness
The below adages appear in several places on the Internet.
Five Simple Rules to be Happy
Free your heart from hatred.
Free your mind from worries.
Live simply.
Give more.
Expect less.
**********No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.
Disappointments are like road humps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards. Don't stay on the humps too long. Move on!
When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy, because God has thought of something better to give you.
When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means. There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard.
You can't make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved, the rest is up to the person to realize your worth. It's better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride.
We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.
Never abandon an old friend. You will never find one who can take his place.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Keys to happiness
Printed on a Thanksgiving card:
Little Keys to Happiness
Work with joy.
Live with love.
Dream from your heart.
Share what you have.
Care deeply.
Be thankful always.
Ordinary pleasure, extraordinary happiness
An editorial in Psych Today points out that simple things make people happy.
Imagine that!
We don’t need big parties, windfalls of cash, mention in the newspaper, or fancy titles to feel content. Company with a friend, a peaceful evening at home, a hike in the woods, a new idea, top the list of many people’s ideals when it comes to feeling happy.
Simple pleasures, profound impact.
I don’t agree with all the conclusions of the Psych Today editors, especially concerning the use of chemicals, but there are glimpses and glimmers of spiritual reality in their conclusion that happiness is not humanly willed into existence. It’s often comes as a very subtle presence that needs to be cherished, honored and protected.
Listen and look for the “little cat feet” today!
Imagine that!
We don’t need big parties, windfalls of cash, mention in the newspaper, or fancy titles to feel content. Company with a friend, a peaceful evening at home, a hike in the woods, a new idea, top the list of many people’s ideals when it comes to feeling happy.
Simple pleasures, profound impact.
I don’t agree with all the conclusions of the Psych Today editors, especially concerning the use of chemicals, but there are glimpses and glimmers of spiritual reality in their conclusion that happiness is not humanly willed into existence. It’s often comes as a very subtle presence that needs to be cherished, honored and protected.
Here's some of what they wrote...
“… we have taken it upon ourselves here at Psych Today to
maintain a Happiness watch.
Here's where the cutting edge comes in. We have detected a subtle shift. North America's leading researchers on happiness report that the elusive quarry is so cloaked in ordinariness it might easily be mistaken nowadays. Ordinary pleasures are the workhorses of happiness. They keep us going day to day. When it comes to happiness, our experts agree, there's no Big Bang. You can't stage manage it by orchestrating great occasions. It's more like grass on city streets. It crops up between the cracks; you have to take care not to trample it.… Or as that Fourth-of-July guy, Carl Sandburg, might have said, happiness comes in on little cat feet.
Listen and look for the “little cat feet” today!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Gratitude and happiness
A number of recent studies confirm happiness doesn’t come from having lots of money or showy things. It comes from attitude, perspective and outlook—qualities of life rooted in Spirit, rather than materialism.
Malcolm Ritter for AP reported in part:
Have you ever noticed the same?
And this makes sense when you think about it. After all, is a grump and complainer going to be happy? I don't think so....
You've probably heard it a hundred times, if not more. Gratitude is healthy for what ails you.
I'ts also a sure route to happiness.
Exercise it abundantly!
Malcolm Ritter for AP reported in part:
I haven’t done any scientific survey, but I’ve noticed that grateful people are generally happy people.“As a motivational speaker and executive coach, Caroline Adams Miller knows a few things about using mental exercises to achieve goals. But last year, one exercise she was asked to try took her by surprise.
Every night, she was to think of three good things that happened that day and analyze why they occurred. That was supposed to increase her overall happiness.
"I thought it was too simple to be effective," said Miller, 44, of Bethesda. Md. "I went to Harvard. I'm used to things being complicated."
Miller was assigned the task as homework in a master's degree program. But as a chronic worrier, she knew she could use the kind of boost the exercise was supposed to deliver.
She got it.
"The quality of my dreams has changed, I never have trouble falling
asleep and I do feel happier," she said.Results may vary, as they say in the weight-loss ads. But that exercise is one of several that have shown preliminary promise in recent research into how people can make themselves happier — not just for a day or two, but long-term….”
Have you ever noticed the same?
And this makes sense when you think about it. After all, is a grump and complainer going to be happy? I don't think so....
You've probably heard it a hundred times, if not more. Gratitude is healthy for what ails you.
I'ts also a sure route to happiness.
Exercise it abundantly!
Happiness is...
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things.
~ Jesus Christ
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.
~ Anne Frank
You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.
~ Eric Hoffer
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
~ Helen Keller
That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.
~ Henry David Thoreau
~ Jesus Christ
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.
~ Anne Frank
You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.
~ Eric Hoffer
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
~ Helen Keller
That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.
~ Henry David Thoreau
Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.
~ James M. Barrie
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.
~ James Oppenheim
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love.”
~ Mary Baker Eddy
~ James M. Barrie
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.
~ James Oppenheim
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love.”
~ Mary Baker Eddy
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
You can't buy happiness
Catch this from the Washington Post:
You can’t buy happiness! You’ve heard it before, but science now backs up the old adage.
It’s true. A new car, a new house, a state of the art super-duper highfalutin HDTV screen may create euphoria, but data shows the elation wears off and the consumer once again wants.
Have you ever bought a child a new-fangled toy only to see it plunked in the closet never to be picked up again? How often have adults done the same with toys they purchase?
It’s time to get the right idea of happiness.
Happiness is not a sensual feeling that comes and goes. True happiness is spiritual, a gift of God that we possess as a part of our immortal make-up.
We don’t have to buy something to be happy. We can be happy with or without the thing we’ve been drooling over that probably costs more than we can afford anyway.
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love,” Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health.
Jesus said, “Follow me.” The path he trod was not a gold-paved road down to the local bank. He led his followers to Spirit—to eternal happiness.
How do we find permanent joy? Not through spending hordes of money and racking up burdensome debt. We find true happiness in getting to know God better and appreciating the good we already have.
It’s a lot easier on the pocketbook.
A wealth of data in recent decades has shown that once personal wealth exceeds about $12,000 a year, more money produces virtually no increase in life satisfaction. From 1958 to 1987, for example, income in Japan grew fivefold, but researchers could find no corresponding increase in happiness.
You can’t buy happiness! You’ve heard it before, but science now backs up the old adage.
It’s true. A new car, a new house, a state of the art super-duper highfalutin HDTV screen may create euphoria, but data shows the elation wears off and the consumer once again wants.
Have you ever bought a child a new-fangled toy only to see it plunked in the closet never to be picked up again? How often have adults done the same with toys they purchase?
It’s time to get the right idea of happiness.
Happiness is not a sensual feeling that comes and goes. True happiness is spiritual, a gift of God that we possess as a part of our immortal make-up.
We don’t have to buy something to be happy. We can be happy with or without the thing we’ve been drooling over that probably costs more than we can afford anyway.
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love,” Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health.
Jesus said, “Follow me.” The path he trod was not a gold-paved road down to the local bank. He led his followers to Spirit—to eternal happiness.
How do we find permanent joy? Not through spending hordes of money and racking up burdensome debt. We find true happiness in getting to know God better and appreciating the good we already have.
It’s a lot easier on the pocketbook.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
It doesn't take money
A friend was saddened to tell me he had cancelled a trip to a sunny beach in the south because the travel was going to cost too much. He needed to save funds for attending work related conferences over the next year. “It’s sad that I can’t do something special for myself,” he lamented.
“It doesn’t take money to do something special for yourself.” I told him. “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love,” Mary Baker Eddy wrote.
“It’s not where your body is that makes you happy, but where your thinking resides. You can have some of the happiest times of your life where you are right now if you are in a proper state of mind,” I explained.
What does it mean to do something special for oneself?
For me, it means doing something that brings a feeling of goodness into my life that I hadn’t been previously experiencing.
The key phrase here is “feeling of goodness.”
People often make the mistake of believing the goodness they seek will be found in a material place, person, or thing. I’ve learned from experience that this type of goodness is fleeting!
Once you leave the beach, then what? Once the meal is finished, then what? Once the other person loses interest, then what?
True goodness is spiritual, coming from God. We have access to it regardless of where we are located geographically. It is not found in a store, nor does it cost money. It is free, given to us by God. And we find it spiritually, through prayer and quiet time with the Divine.
A feeling of goodness comes in the form of peace of mind, inspiration, joy, gratitude, love and contentment.
“If you want to do something special for yourself,” I said to my friend, “take time out of your busy schedule, quietly go to God, and pray for increased spiritual mindedness. The joy you find in feeling close to God will stay with you forever, and you won’t worry about increasing your credit card debt in the meantime!”
It doesn’t cost money to have a good time. But it may take humility in appreciating how easily one can have a good time if open to spiritual possibilities.
“It doesn’t take money to do something special for yourself.” I told him. “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love,” Mary Baker Eddy wrote.
“It’s not where your body is that makes you happy, but where your thinking resides. You can have some of the happiest times of your life where you are right now if you are in a proper state of mind,” I explained.
What does it mean to do something special for oneself?
For me, it means doing something that brings a feeling of goodness into my life that I hadn’t been previously experiencing.
The key phrase here is “feeling of goodness.”
People often make the mistake of believing the goodness they seek will be found in a material place, person, or thing. I’ve learned from experience that this type of goodness is fleeting!
Once you leave the beach, then what? Once the meal is finished, then what? Once the other person loses interest, then what?
True goodness is spiritual, coming from God. We have access to it regardless of where we are located geographically. It is not found in a store, nor does it cost money. It is free, given to us by God. And we find it spiritually, through prayer and quiet time with the Divine.
A feeling of goodness comes in the form of peace of mind, inspiration, joy, gratitude, love and contentment.
“If you want to do something special for yourself,” I said to my friend, “take time out of your busy schedule, quietly go to God, and pray for increased spiritual mindedness. The joy you find in feeling close to God will stay with you forever, and you won’t worry about increasing your credit card debt in the meantime!”
It doesn’t cost money to have a good time. But it may take humility in appreciating how easily one can have a good time if open to spiritual possibilities.
