What Makes You Truely Happy?

Anxiety diminishes your ability to trust, fills your mind with scenarios that do not reflect reality, and has an odd way of inhibiting you from hearing others speak truth.?Why might we be anxious these days? The entire world seems to conflict with itself.

Marcy and I recently had the opportunity for a brief vacation in Massachusetts.?It is amazing how some time away reduces your anxiety and stress. We spent the time quietly, with few plans and the intention to change up our daily routine.?This is impossible to do completely, because there is always something demanding attention, but the intention is worth the effort.?We read, watched movies, ate out, shopped, and played BINGO.?For a time, we forgot about demands on our lives and just enjoyed the moment.

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” … Tom Bodett

Life does not make acquiring these three easy. You are most lucky to find someone to love, and even luckier to have them love you as much. I have been incredibly lucky, but it is something I must remember to work at daily.

What is love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 perhaps describes it the best:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

Something to do can be just as difficult, at least finding the somethings we enjoy doing. Steve Jobs puts it this way. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

This translates to our personal time as well.?Volunteer, find a hobby, write, or just spend time with others. Life is way too short to waste any of it doing things we don’t enjoy.

Finally, “Where there's life there’s hope,” J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in?The Lord of the Rings. Hope is a universal and powerful human need and an integral part of all our lives. It is that spark that keeps us looking and moving forward, not giving up in the face of impossible odds.?It is dynamic and active; hope is never a static or passive thing. It produces results!

?So, are these all you need to be happy in this world??My recommendation is to take some time away with someone you love, explore what is important to you, and work at renewing and fortifying your hope. ?Will this make you truly happy? It can't hurt.