Happiness is more than just a noun
Happiness. {Noun}
What does happiness mean?
Where does happiness come from?
Why are so many people struggling to find happiness?
In today's world it is so easy to place your happiness in worldly things... boys. grades. money. success. friendships. Sure they help get us through the craziness of life, but do these really last?
I have been guilty of this, there's no doubt about it. I have been guilty of ignoring the one thing that creates true happiness in order to please others, to feel successful, to get good grades, or even to get the attention of that boy I've been eyeing. I'll be the first to tell you that true happiness can't be found in these things.
Lately, I've felt surrounded by the mistakes I make, by the loss of people that I care about, by the guilt of placing my happiness in things that could all change in the blink of an eye, by the distance between me and my relationship with God. Many people's first reaction when things go wrong is to turn to ways to cope. Boys. Alcohol. Working. Distracting yourself in ways you would have never imagined. But what does this really bring you? Happiness until something else goes wrong? What happens then? Where do you go next? It's so easy to be torn apart when you don't gain the approval of the people around you, but why should we feel the need to impress others when God is "truly my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress" {Psalm 62:6}. We should be saying "I will not be shaken" instead of giving in to the struggles. Things happen, but just remember, there is hope. There is happiness among the chaos for "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" {Romans 8:28}
It is so easy to see struggles as the end of something great, but your struggles are your story, and stories are written with punctuation. There is nothing saying your struggle has to be the end. Semicolons exist in language for a reason to signify a place where the author could have ended the sentence, but decided to keep going. "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's" {Matthew 11:28}
So keep going; let your struggles be semicolons, not periods; they aren't the end, but instead events that make up your story. And you story is just as powerful as anyone else's. You are not alone. We exist to be happy, not to impress.
What does happiness mean?
Where does happiness come from?
Why are so many people struggling to find happiness?
In today's world it is so easy to place your happiness in worldly things... boys. grades. money. success. friendships. Sure they help get us through the craziness of life, but do these really last?I have been guilty of this, there's no doubt about it. I have been guilty of ignoring the one thing that creates true happiness in order to please others, to feel successful, to get good grades, or even to get the attention of that boy I've been eyeing. I'll be the first to tell you that true happiness can't be found in these things.
Lately, I've felt surrounded by the mistakes I make, by the loss of people that I care about, by the guilt of placing my happiness in things that could all change in the blink of an eye, by the distance between me and my relationship with God. Many people's first reaction when things go wrong is to turn to ways to cope. Boys. Alcohol. Working. Distracting yourself in ways you would have never imagined. But what does this really bring you? Happiness until something else goes wrong? What happens then? Where do you go next? It's so easy to be torn apart when you don't gain the approval of the people around you, but why should we feel the need to impress others when God is "truly my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress" {Psalm 62:6}. We should be saying "I will not be shaken" instead of giving in to the struggles. Things happen, but just remember, there is hope. There is happiness among the chaos for "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" {Romans 8:28}
It is so easy to see struggles as the end of something great, but your struggles are your story, and stories are written with punctuation. There is nothing saying your struggle has to be the end. Semicolons exist in language for a reason to signify a place where the author could have ended the sentence, but decided to keep going. "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's" {Matthew 11:28}So keep going; let your struggles be semicolons, not periods; they aren't the end, but instead events that make up your story. And you story is just as powerful as anyone else's. You are not alone. We exist to be happy, not to impress.
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